The Chaos Trilogy 3: Pure Chaos
by Dark Marx Soul
Summary: Dimentio's ultimate dream has been realized: the perfect world. However, Fawful still lives, the Purity Heart is hidden away somewhere, strange spirits roam the land, and Dimentio begins to find that his perfect world is not as perfect as he had desired.
1. Chapter 1: New World

_**The Chaos Trilogy ~A Super Mario Fanfic~**_

_**Part 3: Pure Chaos**_

Chapter 1: New World

Dimentio

_A new world..._

The two men walked along the grass, one tumbling over himself awkwardly, stealing nervous glances to his side, while the other breathed deeply and had a huge grin plastered across his face. The grinning man wore all black: a shirt, gloves, large, puffy pants, and curled jester shoes.

_A world full of promise..._

For millennia the grinning man had wandered the dimensions, in search of the means to destroy them all and make himself a god.

_A world free of strife and chaos..._

He had faced trials and tribulations, fools who had fought against him, betrayal and despair. He had stepped on so many and killed numbers upon numbers of people he dared not try to count.

_A peaceful world..._

After all the fighting and all the pain, that had all come to an end. The dawn of the new world had begun. The perfect world.

_His world..._

'So...' The Charming Magician, the Master of Dimensions, the Pleaser of Crowds, and now...the God of the New World. Titles he had inherited through his actions and personality. At the core, he simply went by the name his mother had given him roughly three thousand years ago. _Dimentio_. Mysterious. Enigmatic. Multidimensional, you could say, but with an ironic-in-hindsight hint at insanity. And though his name didn't convey this, ruthless, determined, and evil. He knew everyone called him that. Evil. Insane. Sadistic. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that his lifelong dream had finally been realized. In the end, a perfect world was all that mattered.

'So...' he said again. 'I would like some information.'

'Yes, my Lord?' the bumbling man beside him asked. Dimentio noticed for the first time that the man had dark blue skin similar to his own, and the same yellow eyes, though his were duller in shade. The only obvious difference was that the man lacked the white in the jester's hair that had curiously grown that way for his entire life.

'Your life. Tell me a bit about it.' Dimentio looked at him, curious as to what he would say. The man glanced at him but wouldn't meet his eyes and seemed to not be able to look at Dimentio for long.

'Well...I'm not exactly sure where to begin, Highness.' He rubbed his hands together. 'I grew up on a farm with my mother and father. I was an only child. I was fed well. Everyone's fed well.'

'"Everyone?"'

'Yeah. I haven't seen anyone starving around here. Ever. I don't even know what it feels like to starve.'

'Hm.' So the land was fertile, no famines. Excellent. 'Is there a form of currency here?'

'Never been used, no. It's been discussed, but not actually done. We figured we were doing well enough with what we were already doing.'

'Discussed by who?'

'The council of our village. And the other villages.'

'So you have leaders, then?'

'Yes. Elected, of course.'

'Let's go back to _you_ now.' The magician grinned.

'Um...' The man shifted. 'I married a woman and had three children. We still live on a farm and we're still well fed.'

'Would you say life is enjoyable?'

'Eh? Well, yes, I would say so.'

'Let me ask another question.' Dimentio gave the man a serious look. 'Do you love your wife?'

The man gave him a blank look. '...pardon, your Highness?'

'I asked "Do you love your wife?" Surely such a question is not difficult.'

'Well, you see, um...I'm not really sure how to put this, sire, but...'

'Go on!' Dimentio sighed impatiently.

'...what's "love?"'

Dimentio stopped walking. The man didn't stop, unaware that his creator was no longer at his side. Finally, he realized he had been left behind and scurried back. 'What...did you just say?'

The man gulped. 'I...I just asked what l-love is, sire...'

'You don't know what love is?' The jester couldn't believe what he had heard.

'...n-no, sire...'

'Then...why did you marry your wife?'

'Well...why not? It's just the way things are. You marry and have children to avoid extinction.'

'Do you talk with your wife? Spend time with her?'

'Well of course I do.'

'Do you not feel anything towards her?'

'Well she's my friend, and I trust her, but...at the heart of it, she's a woman and I'm a man. That's why I married her, because that's just how the world works. ...Right?'

Dimentio was stunned. A world without love...he had dreamed of it for so long. No heartbreak, no betrayal, no feelings that could be shattered in an instant and bring someone into the depths of despair. He had wanted it, but hearing that it actually _existed_...it was shocking that such a thing could even work. Every dimension he had ever been to had been one where love existed. Yet somehow the people in this world had been created without that, with only a knowledge deep down in their souls that they must simply procreate to survive. No heartbreak. No powerful feelings to be toyed with. Just fact.

The jester closed his eyes and put a hand to his head. _Astounding..._ he thought. _Absolutely astounding._ His mouth curled back into a grin. 'Of course,' he chuckled. 'How silly of me to ask.' They both started walking again.

Dimentio was aware that the man was glancing at him, only briefly, every couple of minutes or so. 'Is there a problem?' he inquired.

'Uh...!' The man coughed into his sleeve. 'I, well...' He cleared his throat. 'It's just...different.' The magician gave him a questioning look. 'Well, you...you're our god!' the man exclaimed, making Dimentio beam. 'We've existed for _millennia_ and now you...you appear and I found you and I...' He shook his head. 'It's just too much.'

'Well.' The jester looked at the man, smiling still. He snapped his fingers and sparks flew up into the air, making the man jump slightly. 'Believe me when I say things are going to get _much_ more interesting. Ahahahahahaha!'

The castle dominated the landscape. Made out of ivory-coloured bricks of stone, four cylindrical towers stretched up into the sky, slick and clean, at each corner of the castle. Stone walls of the same colour connected each tower in a perfect square enclosure. Windows dotted the towers and walls, and out of the tower windows hung the heraldic banner: great, purple cloth, ending at a triangular tip, displaying a stark white version of Dimentio's own mask; unlike the usual, the mouth and eyes were upside down, displaying sadness as opposed to glee. Yellow ribbons extended from behind the mask and curled out from it. Behind the mask was a large, pure black heart. Leading into the castle was a large, metal gate, intricately designed with twisting spirals making out the shape of a heart.

Dimentio crossed his arms and smiled; he liked the castle very much. 'Impressive. Very impressive.'

'Didn't you make it?' the man beside him asked.

'Hm? You mean you didn't build it?'

'No. It's been here for as long as I can remember. Untouched. No one has ever set foot in it, but it's always remained exactly as you see it: immaculate. That's one of the reasons we knew you existed.'

Dimentio giggled; he was liking this more by the minute. 'And I assume that town,' he said, pointing to the large collection of buildings before his castle, 'is the capital?'

The man nodded. 'Biggest village in the world.'

The jester sighed contently. His world reminded him of his home world. He could still remember everything about it right down to the tiniest little detail. That was where he had grown up, lived a normal life under a regular family.

And then the flood of memories came.

_'Come on, little brother!'_

_'Hurry up Dimentio, we don't have all day. Show us some magic.'_

_'Why is it that you cannot stand up for yourself?'_

Though the memories weren't pleasant, the magician's smile remained. _My family...if only they could see me now!_ He giggled, shaking. _I am the most powerful being on the planet! I am a god! Compared to me they are nothing!_

But the price he'd had to pay...that horrible, crushing revelation...

_'No Rosabella. I cannot take you to the kingdom tonight.'_

That was when his smile vanished. Rosabella, princess of his home world. His friend...and a traitor.

_'You think that a princess would love something as low as yourself? A jester? A clown? A _servant_?'_

That had been the point, hadn't it? To prevent that kind of pain from being repeated. Nobody in this world would ever be judged based on who they were. Rosabella's betrayal had at least given him goals.

'My Lord?' Dimentio snapped out of his daydream. 'No one has set foot in that castle.'

'And so you don't know what is to be found,' the jester concluded. The man nodded. 'Let's be on our way.' They walked.

They would enter the village from the front. Two people guarded the gates, spears in hand. 'If everyone is living comfortably,' the jester asked, 'then why must the gates be guarded?'

'Animals. Strays,' his temporary companion explained. 'Also, there's..._things_ around.'

'There are "things" around? What "things?"'

'I...we don't know.' The man shuddered.

'What do they do?'

'They just...nothing, they're just _there_.'

Dimentio laughed condescendingly. 'Afraid of monsters? Creatures of the night? Ahaha.'

The man shook his head slowly. 'No. They're...spirits.'

The magician raised an eyebrow. 'Spirits,' he repeated.

'Halt,' the gate guards demanded. They set eyes on Dimentio and started, eyes wide. One guard composed himself and elbowed the other, muttering something in his ear. He grumbled and nodded, then turned back to Dimentio and his companion. 'Names and reason for entry.'

'They certainly value security,' Dimentio noted with approval.

'With security comes safety,' one of the two gate guards. 'Travellers could cause trouble.'

The man beside the jester nodded. 'My name is Rawn. This man is...is...' Rawn's words caught in his throat and the magician sighed.

'Your name,' the guards demanded him.

He looked at both guards in turn, reminding himself that _he had created them._ The thought both struck him dumb and excited him, and he grinned widely at them. 'My name? Oh if only you knew.' He laughed and they scowled.

'Hurry it up, fool! Entry is forbidden without a name and a reason!'

'Hah, very well.' His beam had grown to show his teeth. 'I am Dimentio, your god.'

The guards' scowls vanished, replaced with shock. After a moment the scowls returned. 'Hah! A likely claim!' one laughed humourlessly. 'We aren't idiots!'

The man Dimentio had travelled with looked at him dubiously; he had believed him at the word. 'Tell me,' the jester asked them. 'In all your long lives, have you ever seen any instance of magic?'

'Magic doesn't exist,' the other guard told him with as much humour as the first.

'Well then, what do you call this?' With that, Dimentio stuck his finger into the air; light flashed from it and a beam of magic shot up into the air, exploding and leaving strands of light curling from it. He waved his hand around and out of the strands of light made a perfect outline of the castle's symbol. It hung in the sky luminously, shining down upon them.

The two men gawked, dumbstruck. After a moment, they looked down at the jester. 'B...buh...' one squeaked.

'Let me try again,' Dimentio said, authority and power lacing his words. He rose up into the air and spread his hands apart, electric sparks dancing along his arms as he compressed and energized the dimensions around himself. A wide grin was on his face and he laughed that same laugh that sent chills down everybody's spine. 'I am the being who created this world!' he declared, his voice loud and clear. 'I am the being who moulded the mountains and shaped the land! I am the being who filled the seas and made the skies! I am the being who formed you all and brought the universe out of hatred and desolation! I am the Master of Dimensions, the Pleaser of Crowds!' he cried, using the titles he had grown to love. 'I am the Charming Magician, the King of the World! I am your god..._DIMENTIO!_' He laughed to the heavens and snapped his fingers; the glowing symbol above his head flashed brightly and the three men on the ground covered their eyes. 'Witness my power and remove all doubt from your minds!' He giggled and tilted his head down to look at the men he could see. His eyes pierced them like daggers and they fell to their knees. 'I have come.' Slowly, he fell back down to the ground.

'Y...you really are...' one guard gasped.

'Yes. I am.' Dimentio leaned back and crossed his legs, floating in the air. 'Now if you could be so kind to open the gate for me. No, wait,' he interrupted them as they got to their feet. 'I'll do it myself.' He snapped his fingers again and they all heard the sounds of tumblers moving, stopping with a click. He put his arms out and swung them to his sides and the gates opened without a sound. A crowd had already gathered. Dimentio looked behind him at the men kneeling. 'Rawn,' he said, grinning. 'Would you be so kind as to accompany me to my castle?'

The man named Rawn started and hastily got up. 'Y-yes my Lord!' he exclaimed.

They walked through the city. 'You realize,' the jester told the man quietly, 'that upon my successful ascension to the throne I shan't be seeing you again, most likely, unless there is a problem that requires my attention.' Rawn nodded understandingly. 'Just to prepare you for that.'

The crowd (likely the entire village) had gathered around them, leaving a path for their deity. They were murmuring to each other in shock and awe.

'Can you see him?'

'Is that really Dimentio? After all this time?'

'It can't be him, that's impossible.'

'But you saw what happened! Magic! Godlike powers! It could only be him.'

Dimentio walked on, feeling on top of the world.

The castle gates loomed above him. 'I must say,' the magician remarked. 'I do like the castle.' He chuckled.

'Uh...my Lord?' Rawn said. 'No one has set foot in the castle—'

'Until today,' the jester interrupted. 'Today marks the first day of activity for this castle.' He straightened. 'The first of many.' He snapped his fingers and the gates opened. 'I believe I would like to continue on my own. Rawn, the company was appreciated.' The man nodded and, for the very first time, smiled. Dimentio walked past the gate line and snapped his fingers again. The gate closed behind him.

With the closing of the gate, the world faded to silence. He still heard the cries of the crowd and the bustling of the people, but they were distant, in another world.

The gate was an opening in a square barrier of stone walls that encompassed the castle, closing it in from the rest of the world. A red stone path went along the ground to the castle front door. Unlit torches were on the outside of the castle for night time sight. Grass covered the ground between the gate and the castle, and on each side of the middle area of the path was a line of soil which flowers poked out of and bloomed beautifully. Rows of bushes lined the front wall of the castle and trees grew here and there. The air smelled excellent, fresh and clean. Lucius' castle had needed a space like this.

He waved his hand and the castle's front doors opened. He entered and waved again; the doors closed.

The floor was made out of the same stone as the rest of the castle, hard and sturdy. As he walked, his soft jester shoes made little sound. Torches, also unlit, lined the walls beside the windows, sunlight streaming into the hall. The roof above his head was curved, held up by pillars on the sides of the room here and there.

He walked through the entire castle, committing it to memory. A very small community could live in it, as the castle contained rooms for families. There were places for blacksmiths to work, there were kitchens, there were meeting halls, and in the middle of the castle was an open area with no roof and a path going around it for relaxation and rest between duties. The dungeons were located underneath the castle and the higher areas had battlements. Compared to many of the worlds he had visited over the years, his was almost pathetically medieval. He had grown up in such a land, however, and that was where he really felt at home.

And then he found it: his throne room. Larger than most other rooms, stained glass windows reached up to the ceiling and large torches were on all the walls. A red carpet led from the door to the end of the room, up five stairs, and went up to the throne, which was an elegant golden chair. The ceiling was made entirely of glass that allowed sunlight to blaze down on the room and banners displaying his symbol hung down along the side walls.

He walked along the carpet soundlessly, his heart beating with excitement. King Lucius, Rosabella's father, had sat in an extravagant throne in his own castle, but Dimentio thought the seat he saw before him was infinitely better. He noticed a heart symbol carved into the top; a recurring symbol.

He climbed the steps and sat in the throne, the red carpet covering the seat. He sat there and looked around the silent room, taking it all in. He closed his eyes and thought of everything he had done up until this point. Lie. Deceive. Maim. Torture. Murder. Entire cities, countries, even worlds met their ends because of him and the Dark Prognosticus. He had turned countries against one another, assassinated political leaders. And that was just the developed worlds. The primitive ones were the easiest, taking no effort to completely level. And then he lost the book and his actions became desperate, his dark power decreasing. He had attempted to create a minion of his own, and all that had done in the end was give him another enemy. He remembered Mimi and his face transformed into a snarl; she had given him pain through the years as well. If she had chosen the right side and stayed with him it would have saved him a lot of pain. But now Mimi was dead. She and everyone else who had ever stood in his way.

He grinned and leaned his head back. Nothing could stop him now. He had created the perfect world and would rule over it for the rest of eternity.

'Finally...' he whispered to himself. 'Finally.'


	2. Chapter 2: Defeated

Chapter 2: Defeated

Fawful

_Blackness._

_Blackness all around._

_He couldn't see or feel or smell or think. Everything was blank and unknown._

_Blackness._

_Horrible blackness._

_His mind was jumbled, out of place. Nothing made sense. Who was he? Where was he? Did he die?_

_Wait, there was something...something distant. Something bright and warm at the end of the blackness..._

_Heat._

_Light._

_And then came a soft wind. He remembered wind. Heat and light too, he remembered those._

_Grass, grass against his skin. Grass and skin._

_Memories were rushing back. Sensations: textures, smells, tastes._

_Memories of places, people, events._

_There was one that was important though. A male, not even out of his mid-teens, with dark blue skin and black and white hair..._

_Dimentio..._

_A laugh cut through everything. His laugh._

Fawful's eyes fluttered and he rolled over, resting on the ground, his temples pulsing. Dimentio. He had fought with Dimentio at his castle at the centre of the Void. He had lost and fell to his end...and then a pure, clean force had washed over him and brought him straight to his foe. After that...he'd blacked out.

But now...something was different. He opened his eyes and sat up; green grass. Blue sky. White clouds. Where was he?

He stood up and looked around with difficulty; his vision was blurred and his head was light, which made it hard to focus. He seemed to be in a field; it looked somewhat looked the Beanbean Kingdom, only without the plants with the faces on them. Their grinning mouths were always incredibly unsettling. Maybe that had been what people thought of _his_ face.

He patted himself; his swirled glasses were on his face, his black shirt and pants and red cloak covered his body. He felt his blaster in his holster and his storage cube in his pocket. He was exactly as he had been before his battle with Dimentio, with the exception of the Chaos Heart.

Now that he thought of it, he felt really...light. His vision was clearing and now that the Chaos Heart wasn't in his body there was something different about him, as if he was...clean.

He realized with a jolt that Dimentio had the entire Chaos Heart. If Dimentio had the entire Chaos Heart than he would be insanely powerful. Not to mention...

_Dimentio had the desiring of a world of perfection,_ Fawful remembered. _Then...is this place of newness...?_

It couldn't be. Dimentio..._couldn't_ have done it. It was impossible.

He took a deep breath and tried to remember. When he found Dimentio and the Chaos Heart things became...jumbled. He couldn't figure things out at that point, what he had wanted. But he did know that the Void had changed. He'd felt that.

A pit formed in his throat as he realized the truth. His world was gone. He knew nothing anymore.

The pit came out in a yell that echoed across the field. 'I HAVE _FURYYYYYYYY!_' he screamed, stomping his foot. Everything was gone! His home, his country, his world, his friends! Not even a tiny fragment of anything he knew or remembered remained.

'Hey!' a distant voice called. Fawful turned and looked as a woman approached him. 'Is something wrong?'

Fawful just stared. The woman had short, black hair, dark blue skin and bright yellow eyes. Exactly like Dimentio and Blumiere. She was dressed in pants and a shirt which were dirty and worn, yet her skin and face were fair and clean. The most shocking thing of all was simply that there was a _person_ standing right in front of him. An actual, sentient person.

'...hello? Can you talk?' She leaned forward. 'Are you mute?' She looked around fifteen. 'Did you lose your mommy and daddy?'

The Bean boy choked. 'M-_mommy?_' he snarled. 'What age are you thinking Fawful _is?_'

'I dunno, nine?'

Fawful set his jaw and crossed his arms. 'Person of stupidity...' he growled, his cheeks flushing.

'Well fine, if that's how you're gonna be then I _won't_ help you.' She turned and made to walk away.

It suddenly occurred to Fawful that it would be smarter to get a native to assist him. 'W-wait!' he called. 'I...I did not have meaning that!'

The girl stopped and paused. 'You _sure?_' she asked.

'Y-yes! Fawful is very sure!'

She turned around and smiled. 'Tell me I'm awesome,' she demanded.

'Wh...huh?' The boy gulped.

'Tell me I'm awesome,' she repeating, ending the sentence with a giggle.

'Uh...you have awesomeness,' he told her.

'And that I'm super pretty,' she added with another giggle.

'You have the prettiness which is being super.' Fawful began to frown; she was messing with him.

'And that I'm just the best.'

The Bean sighed. 'You are being the best,' he told her, annoyed.

The girl suddenly exploded into laughter, making Fawful's mouth twist into a growl. 'Wow, you're the most obedient kid I've _ever_ seen!'

'Fawful is not being a kid!' he objected.

The girl shrugged. 'Well you're certainly younger than me.' She extended a hand. 'I'll help you out. My name's Danni. I guess your name is Fawful?'

'Yesing,' the Bean answered, taking her hand and shaking it.

'You talk funny,' Danni noted.

'Many people have had saying that,' Fawful responded.

'And why is your skin green?'

'That is not the business of you!'

'Well that wasn't nice!' She turned away and crossed her arms. There was silence.

'So...can you have the helping of me?'

She grinned widely. 'Tell me I'm awesome.'

Fawful smacked his face.

The two of them were walking along a dirt trail in the grass. After Fawful's offensive comments earned him three more declarations of how Danni was an awesome, super pretty individual who was simply the best, he finally decided that it was better to just be quiet most of the time, aside from the endless amounts of questions he had.

'Where are we going?' he asked her.

'To the castle,' she answered excitedly. 'I've only seen the place once so I really can't wait to get there.'

'This castle...' Fawful pressed. 'Is your world having a king?'

'A god, actually. He appeared only a short while ago.' She shook, obviously attempting to contain her emotions. 'It's really unbelievable. Now, of all times! He appears and...!'

'A god,' Fawful repeated. 'What is its name being?'

Danni grinned widely. 'Dimentio.'

Fawful shuddered. Danni revered _Dimentio_ as a _god_. There was likely to be millions of people on this planet who all had the same opinion as her, too. Only Fawful knew what Dimentio was truly like, how he had brutally murdered so many people and destroyed every world before he had created this one.

'Why don't you know this stuff anyway? Everyone does.' The girl looked at him strangely; it wasn't likely that she knew there had been other worlds before this one, so the idea that he wasn't a resident of hers would be unthinkable. As Fawful tried to think of an excuse, Danni just shrugged. 'Whatever, it's not my business anyway. Like how your skin is green. You must be made fun of a _lot_.'

'Why are we going to this castle of Dimentio's?'

'Well Dimentio's here, right? He's opening the castle to the public. I'm not really interested in living there, but I do want to see it. My parents went ahead of me, I had some stuff to do before I started.'

Fawful clenched his fists. 'Dimentio...' He looked at the girl beside him, his eyes bright with vigour. 'Danni!' he said fiercely. 'I am needing to get there _now!_'

'Hey, the faster the better!'

Fawful started running before she did.

He also stopped before she did.

'Huff, huff, haah...s-stopping now...' he croaked, his muscles burning.

'C'mon Fawful, we're nearly there!' Danni turned around and tugged on his cloak. 'I thought you needed to see the castle _now_.'

'A...after...I have resting...haaaah...' Fawful flopped down on the ground.

'You're a wuss.' Despite this, Danni sat down beside him. 'I wonder what Dimentio looks like...' she wondered aloud. 'Probably tall and muscular and _super_ handsome...' Fawful snorted in a short burst of laughter. 'What's so funny?'

'Oh, nothing,' the boy giggled.

'Well. I wonder if he'll pay attention to me. Gods probably have better things to do.'

'If he is having the ruling of you then he would have to have the paying of attention to the problems that are yours,' Fawful pointed out.

'Hey, you're right! Hm, what are some of my problems...?'

'Fawful is not caring,' he huffed.

'Well that wasn't very—'

'Fawful is _not_ calling you awesome again.' He stood up and inhaled deeply, then exhaled. 'We must have the running again!'

Danni got to her feet. 'Finally!' she groaned falsely.

The two of them resumed their running and determination blossomed in Fawful's chest; Dimentio would not escape him again.

The castle was very big.

That was really all Fawful had to say on the subject. It certainly wouldn't have been anything he would live in. But it was big, and size mattered when having a base of operations in which to rule over the population of the world.

'_Man!_' Danni exclaimed. 'This is great! Soon I'll get to see Dimentio in the flesh!'

Fawful resisted the urge to tell her that it wasn't as good as she thought it was. As they approached the town they could see that it was quite hectic. Understandable when their god appears and suddenly declares that he'll be living there.

They approached the gates of the village. 'I never really get over how big this place is,' the girl mused to herself, then crossed her arms. 'The guards are gone. That's weird. Ah! Hey!' she exclaimed as Fawful suddenly ran through the crowd. 'Where're you going?'

Fawful didn't answer; his body and spirit were fuelled by a powerful fire in his belly. He needed to get into that castle and stop this madness once and for all. He ran through the streets of blue-skinned people up to the gates of the castle, which were closed. People crowded at them, pushing and shoving and preventing Fawful from seeing what he was doing. He slammed into people in a frenzy, ignoring their shouts. He grasped the gates with his hands and pulled to no avail.

He gritted his teeth angrily; he needed to get into that castle! He jumped and scrambled and grasped at the gates, desperate to gain entry into the castle. He grabbed onto the twisting metal and yanked himself up, climbing the huge doors. He reached the top and wobbled, the height dizzying.

'I have sickness...' he muttered, keeping himself balanced. Bracing himself, he jumped forward. The sudden lurch and weightless sensation gripped his throat and chest and he screamed as he fell. His feet hit the ground hard and he threw himself forward, a roll lessening the impact. Disoriented, he took out his storage cube and was relieved to see a Mushroom he'd had in storage. He gobbled it down and stood up, ignoring the surprised noises of the crowd behind him.

He wasn't even in the castle, he realized, just a garden closing in the castle itself. Huge doors loomed overhead, denying his entry. Fawful walked around the garden, the sounds of the frenzied crowd blocked out from his ears. It was actually quite...peaceful. He found that surprising.

The walls closed off the entire castle, reaching all around it and forming a large barrier. The only point of entry were the gates at the front which Fawful had climbed over with relative ease. Nobody had followed his example, he noticed, probably out of respect for their god.

There were windows along the other three sides of the castle which had no glass or anything to cover them, so the Bean could get in that way. He put his fingers in between a couple of bricks and hoisted himself up, fighting against gravity to get his other hand up to clutch the windowsill. With effort he lifted his body up and rolled over the top, shrieking as he fell over the other side of the window onto the ground.

'Ooof...' he groaned as he got up. 'I have pain...'

Utter silence enveloped the huge bastion. Nothing could be heard besides Fawful's breathing. He broke off at a run, not caring how his loud footsteps shattered the quiet. He raced through the halls, checking each and every room for his nemesis.

A short while after he'd checked what seemed to him like the majority of the castle's first floor he noticed quite large doors that were already open. He went over to them and looked in, catching his breath as he saw the throne room of the castle.

In it, Dimentio sat on the throne, a delighted smile on his face as he spoke to a group of blue skinned, black haired people. The jester had dispensed with his poncho, hat and mask and simply wore the black clothing underneath. The Bean noticed with a jolt that he had _changed_. His...

'Yes,' the jester said, his voice echoing. 'Your services will be drastically changed from this day forward. As the ruler of this world I hold the highest authority, of course.'

'Yes, your Highness, but...' one said. 'If you hold the highest authority than we are effectively useless. As the Grand Senate we have always handled the affairs of the people. If you—'

'You will still do so,' Dimentio interrupted. 'However, it is imperative that any problems in the order of this world be reported to me. I am the one who will act upon certain problems.'

Another person spoke up, a woman. 'Your Highness, is there...something wrong?'

Dimentio tapped on his throne. 'Why do you ask?'

'Well, you seem to be, um..._expecting_ problems. As if you know they are going to happen. We largely haven't had any issues before, so why would we now that you're here?'

The magician looked around at each of them. 'Because I did not come here alone.'

There was general confusion at this statement. 'What do you mean?' a man asked.

'I mean there is an interloper in this world. Someone who does not belong.' Fawful froze as Dimentio's eyes met his and his grin showed teeth. 'In fact, he seems to be here right now.' He waved. 'Come out Fawful, there is no need to hide.'

Heart pounding, the Bean slowly walked into the room, the confused muttering of the people going over his head as his eyes were locked onto Dimentio's. 'Dimentio,' he said.

The magician snapped his fingers and the Grand Senate jumped as one. 'Leave us, the jester commanded. They all scurried out of the room. Another snap of his fingers closed the door.

Dimentio leaned back in his thone, making a _tsk tsk_ noise. Fawful clenched his fists. 'Dimentio!' he yelled, fighting down shivers as he looked him right in the face. 'I have fury!'

'So you do, the magician agreed. 'Understandable. What do you plan to do now that you have rudely barged into my castle?'

'I...I have come to have the destroying of you!' he answered angrily. 'I have come to have the avenging of everyone!'

Dimentio laughed loudly. 'Ahahahaha! Oh what a joke! What a gag! AHAHAHAHAHA!'

Fawful pulled out his blaster and pointed it at the king. 'I do not have joke!' he retorted. 'I will have the destroying of you!'

Dimentio giggled and quieted down. 'Oh you poor child.' He grinned widely and the Bean backed up slightly. 'I am the _god_ of this world. You are the only person on this entire planet who knows the truth about me. Everyone else worships me absolutely and without question.'

'I...I will have the telling of the truth to them!' the boy told him.

'Why would they believe you? Who would they trust more: their god, or a little child they have never met before?' Fawful gulped, but kept his blaster pointed at Dimentio. 'There is nothing you can do to me. I have complete control here, and you...you have nothing. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no one to trust in and no one who will care about your safety. Everyone you've ever met is gone, their souls annihilated by the Void and replaced by my perfect creations. It would be foolhardy to attempt anything now. Why bother? Even if you shoot me and your attack hits, what good will that do? I will be hurt, yes, but I have an army of millions behind me and you only have yourself.' Fawful felt his resolve breaking down and dying; Dimentio was right, he had nothing. How could he hope to succeed? He found himself backing up and shuddering uncontrollably.

'I...I...' he sputtered, his arm lowering.

'Face it Fawful: you have _lost_.' Then, he clapped his hands, smiling. 'But what a good duel it was! You and I fought mercilessly for victory, and I was the one who came out on top. An excellent war to be sure. The fact that you even survived the destruction of the last world is to be commended. Not even the Heroes of the Light Prognosticus survived as long as you have now. It is safe to say that you are truly my nemesis. I'll almost miss you when you're gone.' He chuckled. 'Almost.' He stood up. 'But of course I'll have to kill you now. We can't have my perfect world carrying around an imperfect little splotch, can we?'

Fawful turned and ran, not turning back as he heard his blaster clatter onto the floor, left behind. He raced through the halls, his every footstep ruled by absolute fear. He scrambled into the entrance hall and staggered as he saw the main doors open and the crowd of people come in. He couldn't go back, so he just ran forward into the crowd, his body battered by the mass of people. He burst out of the front doors and saw that more people were coming in through the gates. Not stopping for anything, he forced his way through and bolted through the magnificent silver gates, finally leaving the crowd and flying through the streets at a breathless sprint.

His world spun as he collided with someone and his glasses flew off. The ground felt hard and unforgiving as his head bounced off it.

'Hey, what the heck?' a very familiar voice exclaimed. 'Watch where you're—hey!'

The Bean found his glasses and slammed them onto his head to see the baffled face of Danni. He got to his feet in a hurry.

'Fawful, what...what's happening? What's going on? Fawful!' The boy didn't bother looking back as he took off again, not noticing the cries of the girl. He went through the unguarded entrance to the village and kept running. He didn't know what he was going to do or how he was going to live. This wasn't his home, these weren't his friends. He was an alien on a planet that he didn't belong in. All around him was a foreign world that threatened to swallow him whole.

There was nothing more he could do.


	3. Chapter 3: Disfigurements

Chapter 3: Disfigurements

Dimentio

As Dimentio stared down Fawful, he thought of everything the two of them had experienced since he had found the boy in the Underwhere. Tireless battles, villainous scheming, backstabbing betrayal. And that was only when they had worked together. Dimentio had fought against Fawful and Fawful had fought against Dimentio. Death had crept into both of their lives and darkness had slipped into their hearts. So much effort had been spent on trying to destroy each other and neither had backed down.

The fact that Fawful's resolve was visibly breaking almost brought tears to his eyes from the relief. He had won.

The Beanish boy fled in horror from the room and Dimentio made no effort to give chase. Fawful had been his nemesis for what seemed like an eternity even though their war had waged for such a short time in reality. Now no one could rival him. The Charming Magician was the victor.

'Yes, Fawful,' he said to himself, a huge grin on his face. 'Run away. Run to the ends of the world if you so desire, it matters not. Not a single living thing on this planet will help you.' He giggled. 'It is only a matter of time.'

He snapped his fingers and a faint creaking could be heard as the castle's gates and doors opened. The people awaiting entry would come pouring into the building. If they trampled Fawful in the process then that would be a bonus, but he doubted it. Nor did he care. He was immortal and his enemy would simply die of old age in exile if the jester so wished.

'I have truly won!' he cackled, letting it sink in. 'All of my efforts, come to fruition.' He clapped his hands together. 'Never have I felt happier!'

It actually took some time before people found him. The castle was quite large he supposed and nobody had ever set foot in it so he shouldn't have been surprised. Eventually though, the masses poured in. Curious and awed faces belonging to men and women of all ages gazed around the room and eventually set their eyes on him.

He smiled kindly at them. 'Hello,' he greeted. 'My name is Dimentio. I am glad to see you all here.'

There were some sounds of amazement at his announcement yet significantly less than the magician had been expecting. The people in front, particularly, remained silent and simply stared at him with shocked expressions.

'Your management has been changed,' Dimentio continued. 'While the management and control of this town will still be dealt with in the usual manner, widespread issues involving more than one village will be dealt directly by me as opposed to a collaborative effort by the senates of the cities like you're all accustomed to. This includes any...oddities.'

'O...oddities?' one young man repeated, stuttering. 'Such as what?' He started and added, '...my king?'

'In due time,' he assured. Dimentio noticed that the crowd seemed to look afraid. Why would they be afraid of him? He tried to make his voice softer, though a lack of doing so in three thousand years made that more difficult than he had thought it would be. 'For now, it is imperative that we establish a concrete residence at this castle.' He looked them all over, noting their fearful faces. What more did they want from him? He was being..._kind_. And of course he was. They were his people.

_His people..._

They all shifted nervously and he realized he was giving them his trademark wicked grin. He immediately forced it away.

'There are rooms for full families available in this castle, as you might have already discovered. Those who have an interest in living there should now step forward.'

People stepped forward, though many did not. He understood their reasoning; there were sentiments attached to their homes. That was precisely why he had unconsciously crafted his castle like he had: it was similar to the one that he had spent so much time in growing up, but had been changed to suit his own preferences. Still, there were enough people that it would fill up the rooms. It looked like there would be some left over; others would likely come in after and occupy the rest.

'Excellent, you all may choose your homes after. If any conflicts arise come to me.'

'...no conflicts will arise, your Highness,' one person muttered. Others nodded in agreement.

What was frightening them about him? Was it simply the fact that he possessed powers that they did not? That explained things.

'Are there any among you who have training in combat, armed and unarmed?'

More people stepped forward, others stepped back.

'Excellent. I imagine this village has its own guard system?' Heads nodded. 'Others will have to be the soldiers of this castle.'

'Why?' a boy asked.

There were hushing sounds and angry voices.

'No no,' Dimentio said hurriedly. 'Let the boy speak, he has a voice.'

The boy stepped forward; dark blue skin, black hair, yellow eyes. A fairly childlike face, yet not unsightly. Perfect for Dimentio. They were perfect, every one of them, man or woman, child or elder.

The boy suddenly choked on his words and stared at him, wide-eyed. 'Uh...' he muttered...

'Don't be shy,' the jester pressed.

'Why, uh...why do we need to have guards for the castle?'

'That's obvious!' a man boomed. 'What happens if beasts invade and get past the guards to the village?'

'As unlikely as that is,' a woman pointed out.

'And to keep things in, too!' another, older woman added.

Dimentio paused midway through commanding them to be quiet. _...keep things in? What?_ he thought. 'Uh..._ahem!_' he cleared his throat. 'That answers your question,' he told the boy, his voice taking on his more natural apathy in light of this strange comment. 'Soldiers for the castle will be decided later.'

He repeated the process for blacksmiths, medical personnel, and other professions the castle would require. Luckily there was no shortage of capable people.

'Now, I believe that is all,' the king decided. 'With the exception of one piece of information.' He shifted the dimensions around him to make his voice carry around his world. 'There is a...person on this planet who does not belong,' he told his people. 'This person is no more than a child, with green skin and a small tuff of black hair on his head. He wears large glasses decorated with swirls in the glass. His clothes are black and he hides himself in a red cloak fastened together with a gold chain. His voice is quite high and he speaks with a very distinctive speech. His name is Fawful.' The people looked around in confusion, as if the Bean were already among them. 'He does not belong in the world. In fact, he hates it, despises this planet with his entire being. Before this world was created out of the chaos and strife that preceded it, he and I fought endlessly. He is my mortal enemy and came as a stowaway to this world that I created from nothing. He seeks to kill me and by extension destroy this world!' The people were in an uproar of anger, confusion, and fear.

'This "boy" is a demon!' one man roared.

'How could he want to destroy us all? How can we live in peace with him here?!' a girl cried.

'Death to the world's enemy!' an elderly man declared.

A sick grin went across the magician's face; he had an entire world on his side. He was invincible now!

'Now now...' he said, wiping the grin off of his face. 'Allow me to ease your fears. Fawful is weak and defeated. He lacks power and could easily be brought to justice. However...' he warned them. 'Fawful is cunning and _very_ intelligent. While he lacks the necessary abilities to create the weapons he is accustomed to using, he still has tricks up his sleeves. If you see him, proceed with caution. Make no mistake though: you cannot truly live in peace while he exists. While he lives there will always be strife.'

The day went on and people chose their homes, guards were established and instructed to come the next day to become familiar with the castle and create plans for attack and defence. Dimentio couldn't have been more thrilled. He was a god at last.

The throne room was empty and night was beginning to fall. The sun dipped low on the horizon, casting an orange light across the land. Torches had been lit (magically, of course) to provide light. It was a fairly peaceful scene.

There was a knocking on the doors. The magician flicked a finger and they opened revealing Rawn, his acquaintance from earlier.

'Um...your Majesty?' he said.

'Ah, you,' Dimentio acknowledged. 'It seems we meet sooner than expected.'

'Yes, well you see...I thought I would simply explore the castle and...'

'Rawn,' the jester sighed. 'I realize you were the first person I met on this planet, but I mustn't pick favourites.'

The man looked somewhat dejected. 'Of course, your Majesty...'

'...however,' Dimentio added. 'I do still have questions to ask about this world. Might you be my personal...advisor? It is important to have someone who is comfortable with talking to me.'

'Oh, of course!' Rawn beamed. 'Thank you Dimentio!'

'"Your Majesty,"' Dimentio corrected bluntly.

'...yes, of course. Your Majesty.'

Dimentio smiled. 'Now, a very important question. The spirits. You told me about spirits.'

'Ah, yes, the spirits of the dead. When a person dies, their soul remains with us in the land of the living. They're shadows of their former selves and often are indistinguishable from each other unless they become active.'

'"Active?"'

'Interacting with us. They can sometimes be...troublesome.'

'And that's why you have guards around villages? To keep out spirits?' Dimentio was truly intrigued; without an Underwhere or Overthere to house the deceased it made sense that they would remain.

'Yes. They fear hostility and keep away from large groups of people for fear of being hunted, even if they cannot truly be harmed.'

'Interesting. Another question: during the meeting one person mentioned that one of the reasons to have guards in the castle is to keep things _in_...'

'...ah. Right.' Rawn shifted. 'Behind this castle is a temple. You wouldn't have seen it when you approached the castle from the front. The temple is...' He gulped. 'Well, unsettling. There are things there. Spirits and...and other things. Frightening things.'

'Such as?' Dimentio raised an eyebrow.

'I don't know, sire, I've never set foot in it.'

'What of those who have?'

'They...' The man fell silent, then sighed. 'They joined the spirits of the temple, sire.'

Dimentio's brow was furrowed. He created this world, why would such a place exist? 'That is incredibly troubling.'

'You mean it wasn't your plan? Like the castle, the temple has always been here.'

'No, it was not my doing. That is deeply disturbing.' The magician was hovering above the ground, shifting. 'I will search this temple myself.'

'HEY!' Rawn and Dimentio started and looked towards the open doors to see a very boisterous-looking teenage girl come into the room panting.

'Wha...who're you?' Rawn asked her.

'M-my name is...haah...haah...' She coughed and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. 'Danni. You?'

'Uh...Rawn.'

'You sound kinda spineless,' Danni pointed out. The man gaped in surprise and his face began to flush with black blood.

'You, girl. What is the meaning of this?' Dimentio demanded, irritated.

'Oh, I...whoa!' The girl jumped into the air upon looking at the jester. She giggled bashfully. 'Sorry, your face just kinda scared me. Anyway, I'm looking for Dimentio.'

'I am Dimentio. What is your business with...?' The magician stopped as he processed the rest of what Danni had said. 'Wait, my face? What?'

'_You're_ Dimentio?!' she gasped. 'Well I guess I can't argue with how a god wants to look. Anyway I have to tell you something.'

'What do you mean?' the magician hissed. 'What is wrong with my face?'

'Oh, it's just really scary.' She mimed fangs with her fingers. 'Anyway, something I need to—'

Dimentio ignored her and waved his hand; a reflective sheet appeared in midair, reflecting what was in front of it perfectly.

What the jester saw struck him dumb.

His face was not at all what he expected. He expected perfection, his bones curving immaculately, his teeth in perfect alignment, his whole face symmetrical and smooth. Instead what he saw was like a snapshot of a nightmare. His face was arranged in a motley mess, with features seemingly chosen at random. There were small bulges and sunken depressions smacked on his forehead, cheeks and chin with no prejudice, one of his ears was pointed and curved, and his teeth were sharp and coloured with a rotten yellow tint. One of his eyes, his yellow one, significantly dwarfed the other in size, giving a discordant look overall. It was exactly like one half of the curse he had escaped: his appearance by day.

Dimentio stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, small beads of sweat forming on his skin.

'Um...' Rawn said, clearing his throat. 'Your Highness...?'

_What the hell is this...?!_ the magician thought, chills racking his body. _I purged the curse, why...why do I look like this?! _His jaw tightened and his closed his hands into fists. 'This...isn't supposed to...' he quivered as his heart began to boil with confused anger.

'Why's he shaking?' Danni asked Rawn. 'I thought he knew he had a scary face.'

'Shh don't say that!' the man warned hurriedly. 'He looks like he's getting ang—'

Dimentio screamed in absolute rage, letting loose a primal howl that echoed through the large room. The dimensional mirror dissipated and windows throughout the room shattered to pieces, the doors were blown off of their hinges, and Rawn and Danni were thrown through the air. The burst of magical energy surged upward and the whole roof of the room tore itself off, sending bricks and dust into the sky above and crashing down around.

'_Get out,_' Dimentio spat at Danni.

'What? But—' she began.

'_I SAID GET OUT!_' the magician roared. '_LEAVE MY SIGHT!_'

Danni scurried from the room. Another man came in to take her place; the head of the village guard and new soldier. 'Y-your Highness!' he gasped. 'Wh-what just happened?!'

'You!' Dimentio barked. 'Gather some men and search the village's surrounding area! I want you to comb it until not a single _inch_ of land has been left unchecked!'

'B...but sir,' the man replied shakily, 'the soldiers are supposed to meet tomorrow—'

'_MOVE!_' he interrupted angrily. '_Do you want to die?!' _The soldier immediately left the room and didn't look back once. Dimentio cackled as Rawn ran past him. He flicked his fingers and the terrified man froze for a moment before being yanked back to the king as if by invisible strings. 'Ah ah ah!' he said, wagging his finger. '_You_ are going to show me to this temple you were referring to!'

Rawn had told him that it was behind the castle, so Dimentio had picked him up and flew him through a broken window, much to his horror.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' he asked, clinging onto the jester's shoulders.

'Of course I do,' Dimentio replied. 'This temple does not belong.'

'...we're going _into_ the temple that doesn't belong?'

The magician shot him a look. 'We are currently floating far above the ground. How many bones do you think you would break from this height if you fell?' Rawn fell silent and Dimentio grinned. 'I see we understand each other.'

The temple itself was made of black stone. A pathway led up to the entrance with spiralling pillars at its sides. On top of each pillar was a large heart, hollowed out with noticeable flames burning behind translucent stone.

The building was actually smaller than Dimentio expected it would be. There was a section at the entrance which was longer and thinner than the main part of the temple, holding an entrance hall. On the hall's sides were stained glass windows depicting dark and gruesome scenes. All had one thing in common, however: the Chaos Heart was present. The main area of the temple contained no windows whatsoever, and was perfectly square around with an arcing roof.

'Looks...suffocating. How would one breathe?' Dimentio wondered aloud.

'Maybe that's how they died in there...' Rawn offered grimly.

The king chuckled. 'Somehow I think there's more to their demises than that. Come.' He floated along the pathway with the other man jogging a few steps behind.

As they approached the temple, Dimentio was aware of what seemed to be a thin mist collecting in the air. He couldn't see it, but as he breathed he could feel it in his lungs. It wasn't just oxygen he was breathing. 'Do you feel that?' Rawn asked him.

'Something is in the air,' the jester confirmed.

'Are you _sure_ we need to do this?'

'Your voice is like a dog who's been denied his beef-flavoured gruel of a meal,' Dimentio snapped at Rawn, irritated. 'Stop whimpering like a coward and walk.'

There were no doors on the temple entrance, so the two men just went in. As they passed the threshold everything dimmed. Dimentio and Rawn both blinked hard at the sudden decrease in light and looked back; outside the temple was suddenly dark, as if it were night.

'What is this place...?' Rawn whispered.

'Exactly what I'm going to find out,' the magician replied. As calm and collected as he sounded, Dimentio had to admit to himself that he was feeling a chill. His perfect world shouldn't have this in it.

They turned their heads forward, Dimentio first and Rawn after. The two men walked silently down the hall, nothing but the sounds of their footsteps and their breaths audible. The stained glass windows cast an eerie light throughout the room, a light that didn't feel like it was from this world. The jester noticed stone, double doors at the end of the hall and began to pick up the pace with Rawn close behind. The mist was visible now, but barely. Dimentio reached the end of the hall and flung the doors open.

Miserable, ear-splitting moans came forth from inside the temple and the magician covered his face with a hand as about ten featureless faces made of what seemed to be smoke flew towards him. They went right through his body with ease yet it felt like being punched hard in the stomach. Dimentio gasped and fell over clutching his chest, shivering as his body suddenly became cold.

He picked himself up and panted, trying to get his breath back. 'Gngh...what were those? Where those the spirits?'

Nobody answered.

'Rawn!' the king called. 'Were those the spirits?' Evidently, Rawn had fled. 'Hah. Useless piece of meat,' Dimentio snorted.

He stood in the doorway, looking into the room beyond. He could see nothing. Only blackness seemed to exist beyond.

_What _is _this temple?_ he mused.

He didn't understand. He could perfectly envision everything about his world. When he was creating it he could see, smell, hear, feel, even taste every aspect of it. This temple hadn't been in his thoughts at all.

He just didn't understand.

The mist curled at his heels and he swore he heard voices from inside the room. Muttering, whispering, and...growling.

_The people 'joined the spirits of the temple'..._ he remembered Rawn telling him. Mere spirits couldn't accomplish that. And mere spirits couldn't be making the noises he could hear more and more clearly now. _I am the god of this world,_ he reminded himself. _I have power. I will be safe._

He stepped through the door and began choking on mist, thicker and denser than before. He coughed and gagged and squinted his eyes shut.

The doors closed behind him, shutting with a crash.


	4. Chapter 4: Road of Blood

Chapter 4: Road of Blood

?

Everything was dark. Nothing could be seen. A pitch blackness was swathed over all sight.

Aches pulsed up and down the body and bile made its way up the throat, spewing out onto the ground, leaving a disgusting, empty stench in the air. An unbelievable heaviness weighed down, giving one of the biggest migraines possible and pressing the body down against the ground.

A very, very unpleasant experience, as if the body had lost all energy.

A person was writhing silently on the ground, eyes rolled back into their head and undergoing the most painful experience they had ever dealt with. They felt detached from their body yet fused to it uncomfortably at the same time. The senses were meshing together in phantasmal ways; sight mixed with taste, hearing intertwined with smell. It was impossible to comprehend existence.

_**'I seugiù yodsaé havaqr awoadkn.'**_ Some sort of _thing_ was doing _something_ near them. They couldn't tell what they were or what they were doing, but it was just..._something._

They groaned, their half-baked senses making the noise sound like something otherworldly.

_**'Yoadr swqfs ardya mueræñ,'**_ the thing went on. _**'Itws tekx tobm.'**_

_**'Wh...whaurtp...?'**_ Their voice sounded nearly identical to the unknown thing in the person's vicinity.

_**' .'**_

That was easily the strangest thing they had ever heard.

There was silence for a time, with the exception of the scent of stone filling the person's eardrums.

The thing spoke again, this time with words that the person could slightly make out, and with less volume.

_'What...you...exist...?' _The rest was pure jargon.

The person's senses were beginning to separate; the smell of rocks, dust, and perspiration rushed into their nostrils, the ground felt rough against their skin, and the taste of stale air tickled their tongue. Another thing was in the air; it felt cool and thin, like mist, and possessed qualities that the person couldn't explain.

Sounds could be heard in their ears now, too, but still muffled. Breathing, and the shifting of feet idly.

The person attempted to speak, achieving no more than a jumbled mess. They waited some more for their body to sort out what was going on.

They were very cold, and the mist didn't help. They lacked any clothes, which made it even worse, as there was no protection against the elements.

They spoke again; actual words were formed this time.

'Where...am I?' they said, then choked as their throat began to hurt.

'...hah.' The thing laughed; in the darkness it looked like a human. 'You're in a temple on my world.'

'Temple...?' Another word registered. 'Your world?'

'Yes. My world.' The voice sounded familiar, but the person couldn't put their finger on who it was. 'A world free of imperfection.'

'But...' A terrifying revelation took place in the person's head. 'But what about the other worlds? What about...what about my world?' They were beginning to remember their past life and their heart was sinking.

'Destroyed,' the silhouette answered. 'Completely erased.' The voice was male.

'What? But the people! The children!' The person was becoming frantic, fear gripping their chest firmly.

'Gone. Wiped from existence forever.' He paused in his idle shifting and the person could feel the shadow's eyes staring at them. 'Or so I thought.'

'What do you mean?' The person struggled to their feet and wobbled. 'What are you talking about?'

'You aren't from my world are you? I did not create you. For you...you existed long before my world did.'

Anger welled up in them. 'Who are you? I demand that you answer me!'

'Do you not remember? Think back to your life before rebirth.' They were straining their memory; the voice was just out of reach. 'I killed many people in my pursuit of dark power. Destroyed countless populations, searched tirelessly among all the worlds I could. _Remember._ Remember the voice of the one who ravaged everything, who took the lives of everyone around you.'

They paused, thinking, remembering.

And it hit them.

Their eyes widened and they stepped backwards, falling onto their naked backside. 'You...!' they gasped in horror.

'Ah ha ha ha ha!' the figure laughed, chilling them to the bone. 'Yes, now it hits you! Now you remember! And I remember you as well.' He giggled. 'Why don't we get a proper look at you?' The sound of snapping fingers marked the creation of a small orb of light, illuminating the area and making both of them visible.

'It's been a long time, has it not?' The familiar person was no older than sixteen in appearance and wore an entirely black attire: shirt, gloves, puffy pants, and curled shoes.

They shuffled backwards, ignoring how the ground hurt them as they did, and hit a wall. They curled up into a ball — knees propped against their body and arms wrapped around their legs — in a desperate attempt to protect themselves. They couldn't tear their eyes away from the one standing before them, grinning like a madman.

'Yes, welcome to a new world!' he declared with a mad flair. '_Dimentio's world!_'

Fawful

The Bean sat, back pressed up against a tree. His eyes were drooping, shut, his head lolled to the side. Short, exhausted pants escaped his mouth past his oversized teeth, his large, swirled glasses hung crooked behind his ears. He was completely out of energy and could do nothing but sit and let things stir.

He had ran for a good portion of an hour, never stopping, always running from an inescapable terror. His bodily limits had caught up with him in time, however, and he had finally collapsed and crawled to where he was now.

The sunlight seemed so harsh to his closed eyes. The grass felt like razor blades against his skin. The scent of the afternoon air burned his nostrils and lungs. Everything that should seem so calming and beautiful was absolute torture.

This wasn't his world. This was Dimentio's world.

_Fawful tried..._

The Bean's throat tensed as he remembered the scene: his body corrupted by darkness, his eyes staring up at the two humans that loomed before him, hammers in hand. And the Star Sprite, that annoying little yellow thing...

_Fawful gave the 110 percents..._

He had been pushed to his utter limits then, and was then soundly beaten senseless until his body simply couldn't take the damage and strain of the darkness pushing out against it.

_Fawful worked the overtime..._

Finally, he had let it all end in a desperate hope that Mario and Luigi, his worst enemies, would be destroyed. And they hadn't been.

_Fawful was the team player..._

That horrible, furious feeling that all his efforts, all his sacrifices, his whole life, had all been for nothing...that had been so hard to bare in the Underwhere.

_Fawful put in the hours..._

This felt a lot like that, now that he thought about it. His world had crashed down around him for the third time now. First with Cackletta's demise, then with his own, and now with the destruction of his very home. Nothing could be done anymore.

_Fawful got the hands dirty..._

He had tried so hard, all the time, to keep on fighting, to win. All his efforts, wasted.

What more was there to do?

_Fawful gives up..._

For a second, he stopped breathing. He almost swore his heart stopped for a moment too. His defeat at the hands of the Mario Bros. had culminated in his defeat. And when defeated beyond repair, there was only one logical course of action.

_Fawful will disappear with no troubles..._

Maybe...maybe he should disappear now, too. Maybe he should just give up. Just like last time, when there was nothing more he could do, when everything had exhausted its resources. Maybe he should up and die, remove himself from Dimentio's side like the thorn he was. Maybe this was destiny. Maybe the Dark Prognosticus was the correct prophecy after all.

He was the only surviving member of the old existence, sans that evil magician. Nobody else existed from the past besides him.

Fawful sat there for a long time, doing nothing. He felt like everything he had felt had grinded to a halt, leaving nothing but an empty shell continuing on.

He took out his blaster and looked at it. One of his most basic and useful inventions ever. Just a simple energy weapon, but it was powerful.

Thinking back, Fawful realized he had made a lot of things. Sometimes they were deadly, sometimes practical, sometimes decorative, and sometimes just because he could. He had put a lot of work into everything he had ever tried to do. Nostalgia warmed his heart.

The Bean flicked on the power switch and heard the telltale humming that marked the gun's full power. Turning the power up to full, he wrapped his fingers around the handle. As he held the weapon, it suddenly felt heavy, leaving it in his lap. Fawful felt unlike he had ever felt before; he was holding his life in his hands.

He lifted up the blaster and looked at the tip; it was as if a large, yellow light bulb was fixed to the end, but he knew it was much more dangerous than that. He pressed the yellow tip against his own throat, feeling tears fall down his cheeks. This was the end.

_Fawful..._

A faint voice made him stop for a second. Who could be calling his name? It didn't matter, he realized; it was probably just one of the locals trying to lynch him. He pressed harder and prepared to pull the trigger.

_Fawful, I can see you..._

A chill went down the Bean's spine and he swallowed some saliva. 'Who is calling the one who is me?' he asked to the air.

_Behind you..._

Wearily, the Bean got up and looked behind him, cursing his curiosity. Nothing was there. 'Who is this being?' he called again.

The boy started as a pair of hands touched his shoulders; he spun around, blaster at the ready.

Nobody was there.

Fawful felt fear seize his chest. 'Hello?' he shouted. 'Reveal yourself to Fawful!' There was a quick tapping on the back of his head and he swirled around again, growling.

_Hee hee!_ A quiet giggle danced on the wind. _Look harder, in the distance._

Fawful looked harder, squinting. Off in the distance was...someone. He couldn't tell anything else about them. Something was off though. Different.

The Bean's eyes widened; even at a distance it was clear that the colour of the person's skin was definitely not the dark blue of Dimentio's people.

He blinked and the person vanished. 'Wh...what?' he gasped. 'Enough with the games of silliness!' he barked. 'They are getting on the nerves of Fawful!'

A finger tapped on the back of his head and he turned to face this mystery person. As expected, they were not there.

He walked around the tree and looked far again. He could see the person now, beckoning to him.

They turned and ran.

'W-wait!' the boy yelled and ran off after them, ramming the blaster back into its holster. He weaved around the odd tree or two as he sprinted after the person with the light skin. Another person in the world who didn't belong.

Suddenly, hope began to appear again.

Fawful trudged along, his feet as heavy as lead. The sun had sunk below the horizon and the first few stars of the night had begun to appear. The mystery person was nowhere to be found, but he had kept on anyway. He was filled with determination; that person was leading him somewhere, and they clearly hadn't been one of Dimentio's creations.

He stopped walking and started to just breathe deeply, savouring each gust of air sucked into his lungs.

As he stood there he realized that the air had gotten colder. There was a small breeze ruffling his cloak that chilled his green skin. He looked up; the full moon hung in the sky, glowing serenely. Some sort of bug was making a foreign sound; unusual, but not unpleasant.

The world was at peace.

Fawful was honestly surprised at how nice it was. Dimentio had destroyed so much and actually built a good world from the rubble. That showed a shocking level of humanity. He wondered what the jester's home world was like, in what state he had lived in. That world was gone too, he realized; Dimentio had literally destroyed _everything._

He continued to walk, listening to the chirping of the bugs and the wind across his face.

Eventually he saw the greatest thing in the world at this point: a house. When he saw the house, the only thing that came to his mind was _"Rest. Now."_

He ran to the house, opened the door, went in, and slammed the door shut. He immediately jumped on the only bed in the house and went out like a light.

_Fawful's consciousness fluttered, suspended in dreamy peace. This could have been the first time he had had a good night's sleep in a very long time. Usually he slept without shelter to avoid attention; a criminal record had its downsides._

_He wondered how long it had been since he had tried to think up an evil plot. Time was a difficult subject for him in that regard; after the Mario Bros. had seen to his demise after the Dark Star plot he couldn't possibly say how long it had been. Time flowed differently in the Aftergame._

_He couldn't comprehend the Underwhere and Overthere being gone. The Void had completely annihilated the __**Aftergame**__. How could death exist now? Clearly it must if Dimentio wanted him dead._

_He didn't want to wake up. That was the last thing he wanted to do. If he woke up he'd have to face Dimentio's world, face danger, face possible demise, whatever that demise ended up being. This was peaceful. Sleep was good._

_'But sleep will get you killed here.'_

_A voice had spoken. Fawful couldn't tell if it was male or female, whether it was human or Bean or something else. It was just a voice in his dream._

_'What meaning do you have?' he asked the voice. Why was he talking to the voice? This was a dream, right?_

_'This isn't your world anymore. You aren't safe. If you sleep, someone might find you and kill you before you wake up.'_

_That was a very valid concern, he had to admit. Still, this was too nice..._

_'Fawful, you need to wake up. You're in grave danger,' the voice persisted._

_The voice was all too vivid in his head; his consciousness began to stir and he could feel fear. 'What is the danger that is endangering Fawful?' he asked the disembodied voice._

_'You're in a house that isn't yours,' it explained. The meaning was all too clear. 'Now I need you to wake up now.'_

_'N...now? But I have—' he began._

_**'You fool!'**_ _screamed the voice. __**'Wake up and roll!'**_

_A sensation billowed through Fawful's dream, like a torrent of icy water._

Fawful's eyes snapped open and he flung himself instinctively to the side. Not a moment too soon; a figure brought his hands down upon the Bean just as he awoke.

The boy registered two sounds: the sound of him hitting the wooden floor, and the sound of something tearing the bed he was laying on not even a moment before.

Fawful let loose a string of incomprehensible, groggy speech while he jumped to his feet, his vision still blurred from his sudden awakening.

Or so he thought, until he realized he was missing a very important pair of eyewear.

A dark blue blur ran at him, yelling in rage. He swung his arms at the Bean, who jumped backwards and slipped, falling onto his back. The wind whistled quietly as his assailant sliced the air.

'Have the ceasing!' the Bean cried.

'No!' his attacker, who Fawful found to be male, shouted in response.

Well that settled that.

The boy scuttled backwards before his foe's next assault; blurred or not, the sheen of metal against the moonlight let Fawful know the man was wielding a knife of some sort. That put new fear into the Bean's chest.

The blue-skinned man brought the blade down again and Fawful rolled, hearing a _thunk!_ as the knife struck the floor.

Another _thunk!_ sounded and Fawful realized his clothes felt lighter. He grabbed the unknown object that had fallen out of his pocket and threw it hard at his attacker.

A third _thunk!_ and an "Ow!" told the Bean he hit him.

A flash of light issued from the object and the man cried out in surprise, glancing over at the thing. This gave Fawful all the time he needed to take his blaster out of its holster and aim it at the blurred figure.

He pulled the trigger and a ring of energy shot forth with a very distinctive pulse. It missed the man completely and exploded against the wall, leaving a black scorch mark.

'Bah!' Fawful growled, standing up. 'It is on the power of low.' He turned the dial on the side of the blaster and felt it vibrate more, the energy building up.

'Die, monster!' the man roared. 'You don't belong in this world!' He ran at Fawful, screaming, the knife flashing menacingly against the moonlight streaming in from the windows.

The boy calmly pointed his blaster at the centre of the blur, hoping to anything there was that his impaired eyesight wouldn't make him miss this next shot.

He shut his eyes and pulled.

A pulse and a whoosh echoed through the house and the man cried out in pain. The snapping of wood and breaking of bones was heard, followed by several _thunk_s as the knife clattered across the floor to a stop.

Silence.

Fawful opened his eyes and felt his way over to where he had left his glasses as he fell asleep and put them on. He picked up the object he had thrown; it was his storage cube. It must have turned on from the impact and the lights would have shocked his attacker. Dimentio's world wasn't one of technology.

He looked at the damage he had done. A few things had been overturned as the two of them had fought, and there was a noticeable rent in the wall where Fawful's assailant had impacted.

The Bean turned his attention to the attacker himself. He was probably in his thirties, his black hair dishevelled and his face flecked with dirt and scratches.

As he looked at the man lying on the ground, he gave thought to what his next actions should be. If he left him here, then there was someone who could direct people to him. Someone who had seen him helpless, too, without his glasses and without any terrifying magical abilities. Not to mention he hadn't even existed for a week yet.

Fawful pointed the blaster at the man's head, turned his own away, and shot.

The energy blast tore his skull in two, smearing the wall with smoking, black blood and filling the air with a disgusting stench.

Despite the circumstances, the Bean felt his stomach turn. He had done some terrible things as a villain, but this was the first time he had committed an execution.

'Dad?'

Fawful froze, his fist clenching the blaster's handle. Slowly, he turned to face the one who had spoken. In the doorway stood a boy no older than thirteen, looking back and forth between Fawful and the dead man on the ground.

'Is that my dad...?' he murmured. Fawful could do nothing but nod grimly. The boy looked very confused, his mouth ever so slightly agape, his eyes darting between the two figures. It was as if he couldn't decide what to feel. 'You killed my dad...'

Fawful nodded again, apprehension building in him. He had murdered the boy's father in cold blood. The reaction would not be good. The Bean was waiting for the boy to do _something_. To cry, to sob, to scream, to attack, to let loose a torrent of grief and rage all directed at Fawful.

But he didn't.

'...now what?' the boy wondered aloud.

There was no other way out. Fawful looked away again, bringing his blaster up, feeling the vibrations, hearing the faint hum. The strange, emotionless boy wasn't a boy any longer. Just another stone in the road of blood.

He exited the house, not looking back. In front of him, just far enough away to hide their features, was the mysterious figure again. They beckoned to him and turned again, walking away from sight.

Fawful started to give chase. As he ran, he remembered the dream he had and he realized something about it had been off. The voice of this mysterious figure and the voice in his dream had been exactly the same. But when the voice had yelled at him to wake up and roll...

That voice had been a different one entirely.


	5. Chapter 5: Temple of Ruin

Chapter 5: Temple of Ruin

Dimentio

Dimentio stood rigid, staring at the closed door that had shut on its own.

'Bothersome...' he muttered. His voice sounded for a second, but was quickly muffled by the mist.

He took a few tentative steps towards the door and pushed. It didn't budge. He tried pulling; nothing as well. He had a bad feeling that if he tried to teleport out he would be met with chilling results.

He had come in here to look around, so that's what he was going to do. He turned around and started walking in the other direction. The thick haze curled around him, filling his mouth with a foreign taste and his nostrils with an unfamiliar smell. It was thin enough to move around in without too much trouble, but he could definitely feel it against his body. It seemed to whisper to him words which he couldn't make out.

It was pitch black, the lack of any windows blocking out all light, yet he dared not use magic to create some. He didn't like this place whatsoever. It was the polar opposite of what he wanted in his world; dark and foreboding.

_This world __**was**__ created using the Chaos Heart... _the king reminded himself.

Where exactly was he? It felt like he'd been walking for a long ti—

Dimentio's thoughts were cut abruptly short as he suddenly walked into something hard and staggered backwards in surprise and a little bit of pain.

_I'm getting nowhere,_ he thought, irritated. There was nothing more he could do here while blind; he lifted his hand, pressed his thumb and index finger together, and snapped.

For a split second, a light flashed in the darkness. After that split second, the mist swallowed the light and it flickered out. The magician frowned and tried again, this time a larger light. Again it was eaten by the darkness.

'For the love of...' he growled. He waved his hands and a huge flash of light illuminated the entire room.

The dark mist enshrouded everything: the walls, ceiling, and floor, all made of a black stone. The walls had patterns carved on them depicting scenes that were scarily familiar to the jester; each one featured a silhouetted monster tearing, gnawing, and otherwise destroying people, animals, cities, entire planets. The monster was him. The Dark One of the Dark Prognosticus. The destroyer of worlds. He couldn't help but feel a slight chill, yet he found himself giggling all the same.

He sucked in air and the mist filled his lungs with a heavy fullness very different from inhaling regular air. He realized that it must be the mist keeping him alive; there was no way any other air could penetrate the temple's walls.

He floated around the room; pillars were dotted around, holding the ceiling up against the force of gravity. Experimentally, Dimentio tapped one; it was solid stone.

_Why have a temple with nothing in it...? _he mused.

He floated more and tapped on another pillar: solid. He didn't even know why he was doing this, just that he had a feeling something might happen.

The light gradually went out and he was plunged into blackness. Waving his arms, he lit another powerful light.

The whole building groaned and the mist swirled menacingly.

_'Killer...'_

The jester stood still; had he heard that right? He couldn't have. He continued to tap on the pillars, one by one.

He started after rapping one of them and repeated the action; it was definitely hollow. Pressing one finger against it, he sent a pulse of magic into the stone and it crumbled, revealing a tablet inside on a stone stand.

Writing was engraved on the sides of the stands and covered the entire tablet with the exception of a heart in the middle. He skimmed the writing to find it was very nihilistic.

'_The Void lives..._' he read to himself. '_All shall end...existence will crumble...death and rebirth..._' The magician crossed his arms. 'What sort of madness is this? _"Prophesized end"..._the Dark Prognosticus?' He tapped the heart engraving in the middle; two words were scrawled into its core: _Empower destruction._

Dimentio smirked. 'If I must,' he whispered to himself. No matter the cost, he must move forward; the secret of this place would present itself.

He touched the heart and black magic went up and out his fingertips, spreading like ink and enveloping the heart. All the writing on the tablet and stand lit up, spreading outwards onto the floor, up the walls, across the ceiling. Despite the black colour, it glowed. All the scenes on the walls stood out in striking detail and the whole room shook lightly.

_Monster..._

Dimentio clenched his jaw and floated away from the tablet; he was certain he heard a voice just now. A different voice.

The sound of crumbling stone broke through the otherworldly mist, drawing the king's attention to the centre of the room. Where there was once a floor there was now a hole, revealing a staircase beneath.

_Another floor below..._ Dimentio realized. Looking around the room yielded no results; there were no doors, windows, nothing, and the temple from the outside suggested no room above him. The only way to go was down. The magician touched ground and cautiously walked down the steps, leaving the darkening first floor behind.

The staircase spiralled and was closed in on all sides by more black stone. The glowing runes lit up the stairs and pierced through the mist which came in from the hole above. All the while, Dimentio walked down.

He came to a door at the bottom and pushed it open, revealing a room not unlike the one above. He stepped out and looked around inquisitively; it too was empty.

A deafening crack filled the magician's ears and he spun around; the large pillar that held the staircase split in two, dark dust spraying off the stone as rocks tumbled down to the ground. Dimentio waved his arm and put up a barrier around him, wincing as the hard stones smashed against it.

The noise settled and the rocks stopped falling. The king let his barrier down and looked up; seeing the hole in the ceiling mending itself, new stones filling the gap where the old stones had fallen.

It was completely dark.

Dimentio used another blast of light to illuminate the room; it was much the same as the previous, with pillars holding up the ceiling above. What was different was the stone sign in the middle of the room.

He went over to it and looked at it. He wasn't surprised to find writing on it.

_"This is the first floor,"_ it read. _"Many more await you."_

The jester began to feel a sinking feeling; just how many were there? And what was at the bottom? What _was _this temple, exactly?

At the bottom of the sign was yet another heart, bearing the same inscription as before. _Should I move down?_ he thought. Surely he could teleport out of this temple with some effort, and his subjects would need him. Fawful needed to be dealt with, that was certain, and having the Bean boy running around wreaking havoc would _not_ be good at all.

And yet this temple would remain. He would go down and see what lie below.

He sent a pulse of magic up through the heart and the room filled with the dark light again. He took a step back and the floor opened up, revealing the steps below.

_The mystery of this place will soon be made clear,_ Dimentio thought.

*Chaos*

'See any signs of him yet?'

The call came from the leader of the search party. Swords in hand, each man scoured the landscape; the area around the village was grassland, as was suitable for making a town on, and thus they should have been able to see any signs of the green individual they were searching for.

Not surprisingly, there weren't any. The fugitive boy their king had described to them was nowhere to be found, which meant he'd be far away from here. It didn't matter though, because he'd have nowhere to run in the Great Dimentio's world.

The leader walked up to one of the men and tapped him on his shoulder. 'See anything?' he asked.

The man shook his head, his face glistening with sweat under the rays of the sun. 'Nothing sir, not yet.'

'We'd all better look harder, lest he have all our heads...' the leader muttered.

'Surely he wouldn't _kill_ any of us?' the other man replied, horrified. 'After all, all he said was to _look_, not to _find_. If this so-called "Fawful" can go toe-to-toe with our king and live to tell the tale, surely he has some sort of godlike powers that we cannot match.'

The leader nodded, sighing as some tension left. 'That is a possibility. If the king knows of this boy's whereabouts, he can track him down and kill him himself.'

The men continued on their way, armour clinking, weapons dangling. Every one of them was more than a little afraid of this enemy of theirs, yet their king had given them a job which they had to accomplish.

All of them began to feel a darkness in the air. A chaotic darkness than nonetheless touched their souls and invigorated their spirits, filling their minds with one word:

_'Come.'_

Dimentio

The room was again filled with the sounds of crashing stone as the pillar containing the stairs crumbled and fell. Dimentio erected a barrier around himself again and winced when the rocks came down upon it. The hole in the ceiling that it had left filled up once more, leaving the king alone in the pitch black room.

Another arm-wave illuminated the area around him, revealing that this room was much bigger than the previous two. He waved his arm once more and the light condensed into a ball which followed him around like a pet. His own magic-made flashlight.

_'Murderer...'_

_'Beast...'_

More voices. That confirmed it: none of them were his imagination.

Out of nowhere a shapeless mound of light mist flew at him and went through his stomach.

_'You killed us all!'_ the thing roared.

_'You will join the spirits of this temple of death!'_ another collection of gas shrieked as it circled him.

_'Be killed by the monsters of chaos!'_ a third yelled.

Dimentio was dazed, each breath like a dose of anaesthetics. _What are these things?_ he thought in a panic. _Where did they come from?_

A growl split through the commotion, a sound that had a clear origin as opposed to a incorporeal voice.

What followed next was a terrible silence. The spirits were suddenly gone, away from him, and Dimentio could feel a presence around him.

Suddenly, it vanished.

'Hm?' he wondered aloud.

Suddenly, out of the mist and darkness exploded a monster, letting loose a guttural roar that reverberated through the large room. It rammed into the magician and he was forced to the ground, his head spinning when it hit the stony floor. The creature roared again and Dimentio's nose was filled with a smell that sent pulses of laziness through his brain.

Despite the clouds in his head he managed to reach up with his hands and grab the thing by what he assumed was its head. He felt the dimensional space around it and crushed it into a pinprick of a space, the creature's noises immediately being silenced. The compression of the dark substance resulted in a _pop_ and Dimentio let go. Its head was no longer there.

The king swallowed his saliva and stood up, his head clearing. He could hear more growls; there were more of them here.

_'They joined the spirits of the temple.'_ Rawn's words suddenly made a lot more sense.

His feet left the ground and he floated through the air, dimensional magic at his fingertips. Spinning around, he surveyed the whole room, his orb of light close at his side, looking for traces of the monsters.

Something very heavy hit him from behind, clawed appendages gripping his shoulders, and he hit the ground again, this time softening his fall with some magic. He surrounded himself with a box of magic, which forced the thing off of his back. In a rare reversal of his usual tactic, the box exploded outward, causing the creature to howl as it landed on its back.

Dimentio spun around, moving the orb of light in front of him, and threw a block of magic at the second creature that attacked. It blew up and knocked it backwards, but didn't harm it enough to kill it. He turned back around to engage the first monster again.

Except it wasn't there.

The magician hesitated enough to leave an opening for the second one; it rammed into his back and slashed at him with its claws, making Dimentio convulse in pain. He rolled around and sent dark energy to his palm, blasting the monster in the face.

The monster didn't budge. The energy popped and spread out like a cloud, enveloping the creature and sinking into it. Then it grew, and with it Dimentio's heart sank. In the time this was occurring he was able to inspect this beast in full: its shape was vaguely mixed between a human and a four-legged beast, its mouth crooked into a jagged, permanent smile. Two yellow eyes, glowing through the mist, stared at him with a bloodthirsty longing. Its body was as black as night, signifying something Dimentio didn't like: it was made out of darkness.

The magician snarled a horrid oath.

He threw blocks of dimensional magic at the thing, but the additional darkness allowed it to weather the blows. It advanced toward him, its mouth agape with hunger.

Frustrated and slightly panicked, he surrounded the creature in a box of magic and, his arms crossed in an "X", forced the sides inward, crushing it as quickly as he could. He snapped both his fingers and the box exploded, flame spewing out.

But the thing just wouldn't die. Its body was peeling away in wisps of dark smoke, but it was still as big and dangerous as it was before.

His attacks weren't working. The Chaos Heart's power, his strongest weapon, enhanced its strength.

He had to run. But to where?

He was trapped under his own world, with nowhere to hide from these monstrosities.

He threw another block of magic at the creature and turned around, his orb of light swivelling to allow him to see, and ran.

Dimentio didn't get ten steps in before something grabbed his ankle. He hit the ground and looked back to see another creature emerging from the ground, pulling him into a dark vortex in the floor.

The jester clutched the stone floor, fighting with all his might to keep out of the dreaded void in the ground. 'This isn't...' he groaned, his arms straining under the effort, '...the end!'

His body was being stretched beyond its limits, the creature pulling with all its might and descending into the vortex of darkness. Dimentio's nails dug into the floor, through his gloves, and scratched as he was pulled. The creature gave a powerful yank and the magician's grip failed, making him plunge into the dark hole.

Dimentio's body stalled for a moment, his senses leaving him, then immediately started back up again. The sensations that attacked his body were terrible: a stench that ravaged the nostrils, a taste which seared the tongue, and a touch that gnawed at the skin.

And worse still: the horrid shadowy creature was clutching onto him, the two of them floating in the black abyss.

_Is this the end...?_ the distressed king wondered. _Destroyed by creatures in my own perfect world...? All those millennia, wasted...I'm such a failure..._

_'Oh don't be so dramatic.'_

Dimentio froze, the monster drawing its head nearer to his face. The magician knew that voice, he knew it very well. _You are..._

_'Oh?'_ the familiar voice chuckled. _'Did you forget about me already? Created your perfect world and suddenly you have no more use for me?'_

The man moved his face away from the monster's, wincing as it exhaled its breath onto his face. _Where are you?_

_'And now you start asking me __**questions**__ of all things.'_ The being's humour was in very bad taste, Dimentio thought. _'Perhaps I should be asking you the same question. However, that won't be necessary, as I can see where you are, clear as day. Can't even keep your own world's pests under control, your Highness?'_

_You fiend..._ the magician spat in his mind.

_'I've half a mind to leave you to die,'_ the voice responded. _'But what fun would that be?'_

_What do you—?_

Dimentio's thought was cut short as he suddenly experienced a sensory overload yet again and his perception of the vortex was completely flipped on its head. The smell turned pleasant, the taste rich and powerful, and the touch like a warm wind. His body flowed with power and his large, yellow eye glowed a bright scarlet.

The monster blinked and looked at him.

Dimentio blinked and looked at it.

Then Dimentio grinned and sent dark energy out his pours. The energy swirled like smoke again around the monster, making it grow in size. Mixing in his own explosive, dimensional magic with his dark magic, the monster began to shake and pulse, gurgling with newfound pain.

'Hee hee!' the mad jester giggled with glee. 'Ciao~' He erected a barrier around himself just as the creature exploded into pieces, its body dispersing throughout the formless void. 'Aaaahhh...' he rejoiced. 'It feels so _good_ to be powerful! Ahahahaha!'

_'Dimentio, you need to get out right now,'_ the voice suddenly warned him.

_Ahahaha. Why so serious~?_

_'Dimentio, this is not a joke. Somebody is interfering with me and is trying to get to you. You're __**vulnerable**__ where you are.'_

_Intercepting? But who could? Fawful has no power._

_'This is not Fawful, this is someone else. Relax and I'll get you out of th—'_

The voice suddenly cut off.

_What was that?_ Dimentio called out in his head.

Nothing.

_Where are you? What are you doing?_ he tried again.

A moment of dead silence passed.

And then, suddenly, there was a flash and the vortex was shattered, the blackness replaced by a blinding white light.

Sensation left him yet again, and this time it didn't come back. All he could perceive around him was a shapeless, bright whiteness.

And as he tried to look ahead, a figure's silhouette against that whiteness. A figure that no matter how hard he looked, was blocked by the light.

'Who are you?' he demanded.

Even against the light he could see the figure smile. 'So!' the figure declared; the voice was decidedly male. 'At last, here we are.' He gestured at the magician. 'Dimentio. The Master of Dimensions. The Pleaser of Crowds. The Destroyer of Worlds. The Charming Magician.' The man chuckled and lowered his hand. 'And me.'

'I demand that you tell me who you are!' the king barked. 'This is my world!'

'So it is. Dimentio's world.' The figure laughed; it was a laugh that Dimentio knew was meant to mock, to ridicule, to scorn, and to send chills down the spine just like his was. 'A perfect world, free of pain and suffering.' The man leaned back and put his hands behind his head. 'Or is it?'

'You question a god's authority?' the dimensional master challenged. 'I am law in this world!'

'Your emotions run high, like a teenager scorned by their previously-assumed lover!' The man laughed again. 'Similes are fun. I can see why you abuse them so.'

Dimentio glared at the person; he _hated _being mocked. 'Why don't we cut to the chase?' he said, dropping everything he felt and fixing the unknown figure with a stony stare.

'Very well.' The figure pointed at the magician. 'Your world is faulty. Incomplete. Ruined. Therefore, I challenge you, Master of Dimensions, to a game.'

'A game?'

'Well, perhaps it is more of a _battle_ than a game.' The man snapped his fingers idly. 'You versus I. Godlike titan versus...' He snickered. 'Well, it would be prudent of me to not disclose my identity just yet.' He crossed his arms. 'The winner, of course, is whoever is alive by the end of our game. That will decide the fate of your world.'

'You're challenging _me?_ I have powers unlike any.' A smile touched the king's lips. 'What makes you think you can stand against a god?'

'What makes you think you can assume anything about me? You don't even know who I am. Or _what_ I am. But I'll leave that up to your imagination.' He snapped his fingers again and the light flashed again, the figure disappearing.

_'The battle begins,' _the man's voice declared. _'I will make the first move.'_

'And I,' Dimentio, the Charming Magician said in response, 'will be waiting to counter.'

The light overtook him and his consciousness was lost.

He awoke a moment later.

His eyes opened, flickering in the sunlight, and he realized he was laying outside the temple. A number of guards were standing around him, looking concerned.

'Your Highness?' the leader of the guards said.

Dimentio stood up, trying to shake off his fatigue. 'Yes? What is it?'

'Er...we found something.' He seemed very shaken.

'Found what?' the magician pressed.

The guard motioned to his subordinates and one of them handed him something wrapped in leather. The leader held this thing out to Dimentio.

Taking it cautiously, the jester unwrapped the thing, revealing an instantly recognizable, dark book. The moment he touched it, a voice boomed in his head.

_'WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN?'_


	6. Chapter 6: New Old Friend

Chapter 6: New Old Friend

?

'I don't understand,' said the woman for the umpteenth time.

'Oh if only I had a nickel for every time you've said that, I'd be absolutely _rich_,' the man sitting upon the throne sighed. He leaned his head against the back of his hand idly, looking at his fingernails; they were a soft pink, not incredibly noticeable, but they still stood out a little against his pale white skin.

'Well I _don't_,' the woman huffed agitatedly. 'What was the point?' Her cheeks were reddening slightly.

'I wanted to taunt him a little bit.'

'_Taunt_ him? He's this world's _god!_'

The male chuckled, a grin spreading across his face. 'Yes?'

'He has that "Chaos Heart" thing you told me about,' she pressed.

'Yes?' the man inquired again.

'He is, from what you said, ludicrously powerful,' the girl added.

'_Yeeeeessss...?_ I fail to see what point you're attempting to make.'

'What if he tries to _kill you?_' The woman groaned, frustrated. 'What if he _finds_ us?'

'Oh please,' the man laughed. 'That egotistical psychopath is too full of himself and his Heart's power to even _think_ I'm a threat to him. If I'm right, he'll simply wait to see what my move is.'

'And if you're not?'

'Do you think I am? Really think about that possibility.'

There was a pause.

'I...suppose that's a stupid thing to consider,' the girl relented. The man smiled as she ran her fingers through her light hair. 'But I still don't approve.' She looked at him, her eyes piercing; he found, once again, their colour delightfully odd. 'Do you have a plan?'

The man's smile turned into a frown. 'Truthfully, only fragments. And only to cause some paranoia. I've no hope of killing him, not without the Purity Heart.'

'So why do it and alert him to your presence?' the woman asked. 'Why can't we just do what we were doing?'

'It may come in useful to have him on his toes. He won't be as nonchalant about anything.'

'...useful _how?_'

The man thought. 'He'll be quicker to use Fawful as leverage against me rather than simply have him killed.' The girl pondered it. 'Speaking of which, you need to go back to him. He'll get lost without you.'

'What am I leading him to again?'

'If all goes well, the Purity Heart. If not...' The man sat with proper posture, his fingers curled around the arms of the chair. 'Then at the very least it's something with a natural inclination to it, which is fortunate anyway.'

The woman nodded. 'Send me off then.'

'Send me off, _what?_' the man sneered.

The girl's jaw set in a scowl. 'Send me off...Your _Highness_.'

'Heh heh. That's a good little girl.' The man snapped his fingers and the girl disappeared.

His sneer vanished and he waved his hand; a white-coloured book adorned with a yellow star appeared in his hands. 'O ancient tomb of prophecies...' he sighed, opening the book. 'What news of your sister prognosticus?' He looked at a page.

_"All is black."_

'Yes it is,' the man agreed. 'Yes it is. If only your function as a prophecy would remain consistent, I might understand exactly what you mean...'

He closed the book.

Fawful

The person had disappeared again.

'Gaaaaaaah!' Fawful tugged at his tuff of hair in frustration. 'Fink-raaaat!' He kicked at the ground and growled; whoever it was had been forcing him to follow them kept disappearing. What way was he supposed to _go?_

He hated not being in control. He hated not sitting behind a throne, commanding robots and mind-controlled servants to do his bidding. He hated listening to others. _He_ wanted to be the leader. But...

Now nobody was left anyway.

'Nobody but that fink-rat person of mysteriousness!' he huffed. He sat down and took out his storage cube, sifting through its contents; he still had everything from before the world began.

The Bean boy dropped the cube and put a hand to his forehead, suddenly feeling dizzy and queasy. _Before the world began._ The gravity of the words struck him forcefully; never before had he really put the events into words.

He predated the beginning of the universe.

'Wow...' he breathed, and picked up his storage cube. He looked at more of the contents, mostly various tools and mechanical parts in case he wanted to build anything. Blasters of different variations that he hadn't yet used, too. He didn't know if he would, but it helped to have a few extra weapons. 'Fawful misses his world...' he muttered sadly to himself.

_'It's sad, isn't it?'_

Fawful's head snapped up and he looked around. 'You!' he shouted, recognizing the incomprehensible voice. 'Where—'

_'Please talk in your head, you'll make people notice you!'_ the voice warned.

The Bean swallowed his words and he directed his questions inward. _Explanations!_ he thought loudly. _Fawful is wanting them!_

_'I can't do that,'_ the voice sighed. _'Secrecy is the most important thing for us, m-me.'_

The boy hadn't missed that. _Aha!_ he shot. _So there __**were**__ voices of many!_

_'No,'_ his disembodied acquaintance denied. _'You're imagining things.'_

_Just have appearance, fink-rat._

_'All right, look to the distance again, to your left.'_

Fawful complied; he saw the figure again. Wordlessly, he got up and followed them.

It was currently midday, and the Bean hadn't eaten for a while. In fact, since he'd woken up in this insane place he hadn't had a scrap of food. His stomach rumbled; he was very hungry, but he followed anyway.

_'I'll see if I can get you something to eat later,'_ the voice reassured him. Suddenly Fawful felt all the more inclined to do what they asked.

_That voice,_ he asked. _Who—_

_'I told you, there wasn't. You must have been mistaken.'_

_If you have insistence,_ he replied doubtfully.

_'I'm taking you somewhere important,' _said the voice. _'So just keep following me and I promise you'll—'_

The voice cut off.

_What? Fawful will have what?_ That was very unsettling. _WHAAAAAAAT?_ he blared loudly in his mind.

He stopped running and tensed; if the voice had suddenly stopped, either he had fallen into a trap or something had gotten the person he'd been following. He didn't know which one he preferred.

A noise behind Fawful made him whip around, blaster in hand, slightly shaking at the thought of what sort of abomination was going to try and murder him next.

He certainly didn't expect to see such a small creature.

It was a four-legged animal with brown fur, about half of Fawful's size with dark, staring eyes. It didn't look fierce; its face was calm and curious rather than feral and threatening, and the thing had a circular, white mark on its forehead along with a hump in the middle of its spine.

The Beanish boy lowered his gun. 'Huh,' he said, giggling a little. 'You gave Fawful the worries!'

Then it growled, showing rows of pointed teeth, and Fawful jumped and blasted at it; the projectile hit its mark and the thing yelped, rolling.

'Hah!' Fawful chortled. 'And that is why you are not having the worth of liver next to the Great Fawful, who laughs at your grossness!'

Then the strange animal got up and puked out a gooey, black ball. Fawful barely had time to flinch and make a disgusted sound before he noticed the ball uncurl into a near-perfect, shadowy replica of the animal.

A chill went up the boy's spine. 'Poo,' he huffed, and the shadow creature ran at him.

Fawful hopped backwards when the thing lunged at him, jaw gnashing, and shot its head with a few quick blasts. It let loose a distorted howl and exploded, the dark parts of its body dissipating into thin air.

The original creature spat out a few more shadowy clones, which howled to the heavens their murderous intent and charged at Fawful, who downed the first with his blaster but couldn't get to the second in time. It jumped and hit the Bean with a powerful force, knocking him to the ground and the blaster out of his reach.

The creature roared in his face, spraying it with a black spittle. Oddly enough, its breath didn't smell very bad, but that wasn't really on Fawful's mind at the moment. He grabbed the thing's jaw, desperately pushing against it to try and save himself from acquiring a fatal bite out of his head. It was more difficult than he was liking, especially when the original creature was vomiting up more shadow copies.

'Hnnnnrrrrggghh...' the Bean groaned. Tilting his forehead forward a little, he slammed his eyes shut, tightened his jaw, and slammed his head into the thing's snout. It yelped and reared back, allowing Fawful to roll over and force it off of him. He immediately got up and grabbed his blaster, destroying the copy with a shot.

Seven shadow clones were circling him, growling dangerously. Something about the original caught his attention though: it looked very tired and was panting. Making all the clones must have sapped its strength.

'Ha ha!' Fawful laughed defiantly. 'Your stupid stomach has tiredness, like ancient, wrinkly prunes of harmlessness!' He took a deep breath and shouted, 'I LAUGH AT YOUR PRUNES!' He gunned down a shadow copy and took off at a run towards the original, his gleeful, toothy smile nearly swallowing his face; he missed taunting his foes.

A copy ran at him and jumped. 'I HURT YOUR FACE!' he roared, taking care of it. Another dashed from behind. 'I BURN YOUR DUMB HEAD!' he spat, turning it into black rain. One more snarled and attacked. 'I BLAST YOUR BEHIND!' he cackled disintegrating it. 'AND I, HAVE, FURY!' he proclaimed loudly, destroying a clone with each verbal pause.

All the clones were gone and the original creature was backing away. 'Pah!' Fawful grunted with disdain. 'Your paws are not fit to touch the cloak of the Great Lord Fawful! You have no fury!' He blasted the thing, searing a burn mark across its face.

It whimpered pitifully as Fawful took aim again, and something about its pain caused him to hesitate delivering the fatal blow. Perhaps it would be cruel, he thought, to kill it for hunting him. It was only doing what was natural, of course.

_What?_ he thought quickly. _I am Lord Fawful! I do not have caring! _He put his gun up again.

Suddenly the thing's face lit up and it looked to the boy's right; he followed its gaze and saw another creature approach. Then another, from a different position, then another.

Four of the things were now here, growling menacingly. The three who had just arrived hacked and coughed and made their own shadow copies. The fourth got up shakily and snarled at him.

'...this has suck,' was the Bean's response.

He turned around and ran through the only spot not occupied by the things and ran for his life, wildly firing his blaster behind him at the creatures who had begun to chase him down.

The chase lasted much longer than Fawful thought he would have been able to run for. He supposed a life-or-death scenario got the adrenaline pumping and allowed for better stamina. He hadn't tripped or fallen once, but there had been moments when a creature, clone or not, had nearly caught up with him. He was persistent with his wild blasting though, and eventually he'd hit them enough that they decided this particular creature wasn't one that was worth it to chase.

Thank goodness for him. He had been thinking of just stopping and letting them eat him after a while.

He'd wanted to get a far distance away, so even after they'd left and he slowed down he still trudged along for the day. The strange individual who had been talking with him hadn't contacted his mind for the entire time and he was beginning to think that either he had escaped a trap set by them to kill him or they had been killed by similar creatures or Dimentio's soldiers. If it was the former, he'd have to remain on guard for more attacks. If it was the latter...he was seriously worried.

The sun had vanished from the horizon and the sky became a rich blue dotted with glimmering, white stars. A bright white half moon illuminated the air and he could hear bugs making squeaking noises somewhere. After the attack of those creatures he was suddenly afraid that those bugs could somehow kill him.

He saw a beach in the distance and decided to go to it. If there was one thing he found calming, it was the sea. Maybe it reminded him of his home, the Beanbean Kingdom. He'd spent some time on Oho Oasis once and it had left a profound impression on him. Except for the Oho Jees, they annoyed him a lot.

When he got there, he sat down on the sand and stared out into the waves going in and out, wetting the sand with its huge, salty mass of water. It was another thing that made Fawful feel very odd, because it was another thing in Dimentio's world that was uncomfortably like Fawful's own and no matter how hard he fought the feeling he couldn't help but be a little bit comfortable with it.

'Ffffffffeh...' he sighed, frustrated, and threw a rock into the sea. It plonked against the water and sunk straight to the bottom. 'Stupid.'

Suddenly, two hands grasped his shoulders and he jumped, reaching for his blaster and ready to fight off whoever had caught him.

'Please don't fight,' said the person. Her soothing, reassuring tone of voice made Fawful feel good and he relaxed. 'I'm the one who's been guiding you. Soldiers found me and tried to imprison me.' So the person was a girl. 'They didn't succeed. Don't turn around, I can't let you see who I am.'

'Why?' Fawful asked her.

'Because he, I need to protect my identity from Dimentio.'

'Ha!' Fawful exclaimed as he caught her correction. 'There _is_ a person of second!'

'No there isn't!' the girl shot.

'Have truth,' the Bean growled, 'or I will have the hurting of your face.' He tapped his blaster and he felt the hands tense around his shoulders.

'Okay, there _is_ a second person,' the woman sighed bitterly. 'He told me not to tell you about him or show my face to you. He'll probably be angry that I'm talking to you in person right now.'

'Why?' Fawful pressed.

'I can't tell you.'

'_Why?_'

'I can't tell you that either.' Fawful sighed. 'Just trust me, please?'

The Bean stared out at the sea; he had to trust somebody, didn't he? 'Okay,' he relented. 'Fawful will have trust.'

He heard the girl make a pleased sound and her hands left his shoulders. 'I brought you food.' The girl put her arms under his and held a plate to him; it had bread, cheese, and some other thing that he couldn't recognize. Fawful took the plate and mowed into the food.

'What,' he asked through his mouthfuls, 'is this thing of strangeness?'

'That? It's a mushroom.'

Fawful paused and stared at it; the thing was cooked, though cold, and small, coloured completely a dark brownish colour. 'It is not looking like a Mushroom which I have familiarity with,' he said.

'Really? Well, it's a mushroom all right. Give it a try.'

He eyed the so-called "mushroom" with distaste, but ultimately picked it up and popped it in his mouth. 'Mmm!' he exclaimed. 'It has yum!'

'Hee hee!' the girl giggled. 'You're such a cute little boy.'

'Eh...! H-hey!' the Bean cried, feeling his face grow hot. 'Fawful is not being a boy of littleness!' He nearly turned around to tell this to her face, but restrained himself.

'You don't look that old...eleven at most,' she chuckled.

'Y...you are not seeing the face of Fawful!' the boy persisted.

'Well then, how old are you?'

'I am...uh...' He gulped. 'The, erm...three of teen?'

He could feel the girl inspecting him. '...maaybe,' she said, 'but it's tough to tell.' Fawful didn't tell her that it was tough for _him_ to tell too, and his heart sank a little.

The girl pressed her back against his for support. They fell silent and some time passed, nothing but the sound of their breathing and the rising and falling of Dimentio's waves filling the quiet night.

He looked up and stared at the moon, half-covered by darkness, and at the stars shining with brilliance. 'It's kind of pretty, don't you think?' the girl asked him.

'...yeah,' the Bean admitted sombrely. 'Of kind.'

'Makes you wonder if Dimentio's mad scheme was worth it after all.' Her voice was melancholic and he felt her move to wipe tears off her face.

'You come from a world of oldness too,' Fawful said, connecting the dots.

'Yeah...it was destroyed, and all of my family too. I was destroyed too. But I came back. And I found the one who wanted to defeat Dimentio and bring an end to his evil.'

'Why did you have appearance?' Fawful asked. 'Why, if he would have fury at you?'

'Because I wanted you to know that you're not alone in this world. That we're here for you, no matter what it seems like.'

That brought a small smile to Fawful's sad face.

'Waiting,' he realized. 'Did you...you "came back?"' His tongue worked around the different speech pattern. 'What meaning does that have?'

'I don't know,' she answered. 'I just woke up one day and he was there, telling me that I was reborn.'

Something had begun to stir in the boy's chest. 'But...if you had the reborning, then...then others could have the reborning too! Fawful could...!' His voice trailed off.

'Yes, others could come back and fight against him. That's part of what we know.' When he didn't respond, she added, 'Fawful?'

The Bean stood up; he saw something floating along that looked very much like someone he knew. 'What...?' he whispered, following its flight; it was hard to make it out because it looked more like a gas than anything, but it definitely looked like someone he'd seen before.

Mimi.

The green girl's death flashed before his eyes and his heart leapt up into his throat. 'Mimi!' he cried, and chased after the thing.

'Fawful!' the girl called. 'Don't go off! Fawful!'

Her words fell on deaf ears; he was dead set on chasing this thing, whatever it was. He ran up to it and reached out; his hand passed right through it, fingers grasping at thin air. No matter what though, he couldn't stop seeing Mimi in its shape. 'Mimi, please!' he cried, jumping at it, trying to wrap his arms around it and keep it still. His heart felt like it was shrinking and growing at the same time; she could be right in front of him and he could see her and talk to her again. 'Please, have sight of Fawful...' he breathed, grasping and chasing it. 'Mimi...'

A slight golden glow brushed off his fingers and the faint thing wiggled in the air, turning around and circling around his fingers. Fawful wanted to see her so badly. So, so badly. If he could just see her or hear her voice, just once, he knew all of his worries and loneliness would go away.

Then suddenly, he grasped something solid. A flash of light blinded him and he staggered back, yelling.

The light vanished.

He opened his eyes and they widened.

Somebody was writhing on the ground, their eyes rolled back into their head and a strangled, choking, bubbling sound issuing from their throat.

'H...hey!' he shouted, mind overcome with worry. The person just laid there and seized, locked in agony.

'Don't intervene,' the girl who had helped him whispered in his ear. She held him in place so he wouldn't turn around. 'I don't know what you did, but you resurrected a spirit.'

'Resur...?' Fawful mumbled, unable to take his eyes off the shaking person on the ground.

'They'll be disoriented,' she explained. 'Like they're not part of their body, but also like they're _too_ much a part of it. They won't understand you. Or anything. Nothing they sense in any way is right.'

'How do you have knowledge of this?' the Bean asked.

'Because the same thing happened to me.' Fawful uttered a horrified sound. 'Don't worry,' the woman assured. 'Give them time, they'll come to.' She paused, and a long moment passed. 'Also, they'll be naked.'

'Wh...huh?' Fawful sputtered, and this time he actually turned around.

The woman was gone.

He returned his attention to the person on the ground, then went red in the face and turned to face the other way. Whoever it was, Fawful wasn't going to look at them if they were naked.

Eventually, the writhing and seizing subsided. The person let out a groan and the Bean realized it was a girl, so he was even more glad he'd turned around.

Then he realized the voice sounded just like Mimi's and he fought the urge to see if it was her.

'Are you okay?' his guide asked. Fawful almost answered, but realized the question was directed towards the newly reborn girl. There was a murmur of confusion. 'Things are going to be weird for a while, but it'll pass.' Another murmur and a gag. 'Don't worry, you won't throw up, you haven't eaten anything.' There was a pause as the confused girl muttered incomprehensible syllables. 'I can't let you see who I am, so don't look at me. I have some clothes for you from where I live on this world. They look really pretty, you'll like them.' The tone in his guide's voice was strange; it was a different kind of soothing, and he had no doubt that to be spoken to like that he'd have to somehow become a girl. He then made it a goal to never be spoken to like that.

There were shuffling sounds and the Bean figured his guide was trying to help the girl stand. He really hoped it was Mimi. It sounded so much like Mimi. His heart bounced.

'Are you feeling better?' his guide asked.

'Y...yes...' Fawful felt his skin crawl and his heart flutter; it was Mimi! There was no mistaking it! 'I'm...I'm okay...'

'Brush off the sand, you don't want that sticking to you.'

'Mhm...'

There was more movement, but Fawful made sure not to turn around.

'There's someone here who revived you,' the Bean's guide explained. 'I'll let you stay with him. Oh don't worry, he's not looking, haha.' Fawful suddenly felt very embarrassed. 'Once you get these clothes on I'll see if I can get some food for you.'

A few moments passed.

'Good! You look beautiful.' He heard the girl mumble a dizzy thanks. 'Go introduce yourself to him. He's not a human, but he's pretty close. His name is "Fawful." Who can turn around now, she isn't naked anymore.'

Fawful turned around and saw the silhouette of a girl wearing a dress. Their guide had vanished. The girl shifted from foot to foot, her hands closed together. She approached him. 'Hello,' she greeted; her voice was scared and confused, something he hadn't expected from Mimi.

'Helloing,' he greeted, and smiled. He took out his blaster turned off all the energy mechanisms, and pressed a button; the tip of the blaster lit up like a flashlight. He held it under their faces to illuminate them.

Fawful's smile disappeared and he realized when he saw the girl's white skin that she was most certainly not Mimi. Aside from that though, she looked like Mimi in every way: the shape of her face, the way her hair fell and parted, her height and her build. Her hair was white like her skin, which made her eyes stand out strikingly against it; they were red, just like Mimi's had been.

'...I...' He swallowed saliva building up in his throat. He knew who this girl was. He had never seen her before, but he remembered hearing of her. 'I am Fawful,' he said.

He knew what the girl would say even before she said it. The girl was Mimi. Not literally, not completely, in neither name nor appearance, but she was the green girl he knew all the same. 'My name...' the girl said, her eyes staring into the depths of his swirled glasses.

'Yes?' Fawful pressed, and the girl swallowed saliva of her own.

'My name is Rose.'


	7. Chapter 7: Control

Chapter 7: Control

?

The man paced the room, hands behind his back. His lips were pursed in a frustrated, thin line, his hair hung partway over his eyes, and a few beads of sweat were trailing down the back of his neck.

'Hm...' he mused. He stopped, turned around, and walked across the room in the opposite direction once he reached a wall. He'd been doing this for a good fifteen minutes now, and he had no plan to stop. 'Hmm...'

He felt powerless. Dimentio had the Chaos Heart and was thus invincible. His strength was in anonymity, in flexing his fingers and moving the strings behind the scenes. To be the _deus ex machina_ to Dimentio and Fawful's deadly dance. The children were his weapons, the woman, his eyes and ears.

But what could he _do?_ He had no idea where the Purity Heart could possibly be, and that was the only thing that could make Dimentio killable. Fawful and that new girl, Rose, could be directed wherever he pleased, but it didn't matter if he had no objective for any plans of his to arrive at.

'_Hmmmmmmmmm..._'

He'd sent out that insufferable woman under his command for some reconnaissance and she hadn't returned. She'd told him there was something he might be able to use to his advantage but she didn't know what it was, so she was going to go check it out. Unfortunately he was only able to teleport her so close to it as she could only determine the general direction and neither of them had anything mapped out on this planet. His castle was like a hub; she could return there from anywhere on the planet, but the reverse wasn't applicable.

He went out of the room and down the stairs, pushing the door open and closing it tightly behind him. He needed some air.

'Ah, my lord!'

The man waved the loyal subject away tiredly. 'Not now,' he sighed, rubbing his temples. 'If you need something, feel free to find a member of the guard or council.'

'Uh, yes,' the subject replied dejectedly. 'I just...'

The ruler stopped and gave the man a thorough examination; white skinned with brown hair and green eyes. A little dirty. 'If you must, I'll listen,' he decided.

'Oh, it's nothing too important!' the other man assured. 'I just fear for the worst a lot.'

'"The worst?" What's the worst?'

'This man you're trying to dethrone. His dark powers...' A worried look cast over him.

'Ah, don't worry, he can't touch us here,' the ruler reassured.

'But what if he controls the mind of a guard? What if he tries to assassinate you?'

'Don't be preposterous,' the man said, a humoured smile lighting up his face at the thought. 'He can't possibly do that. Yes I'm perfectly certain,' he added as his subject looked doubtful.

There was a _ping!_ sound that attracted their attention; the woman under the man's command had reappeared. He ordered the subject to leave him. 'I'm back,' she said.

'And?'

'I'm still not sure what it is. I couldn't get close enough without running into trouble.'

The man frowned. 'What sort of trouble?'

The girl eyed the horizon. 'Monster trouble. They seem to be gravitating towards there. Spirits, too.'

'Do you have any idea what it could be?'

The woman looked excited. 'I'm sure it has something to do with the Purity Heart. I could feel it's energy. Like love in the air.'

'In Dimentio's domain?'

'It's far from a town.'

The man wondered what could await them there. 'Then I guess those two children need to start making solid ground. It's our only option.'

They both blinked hard.

'Did you feel that?' the woman asked.

'Yes...' the man muttered. Around them, people were looking everywhere.

'I think the sky moved,' the girl said amidst the slowly rising voices.

There was a moment of silence. 'Perhaps I should start guiding them,' she suggested.

'Wait.' He stopped her, a devilish smile spreading across his face. 'Let's stir Dimentio up a bit.'

The woman frowned; she didn't like the thought of angering that devil.

Dimentio

The doors were shut. The candles were out. The light streamed in through the recently-repaired stained glass windows, casting an otherworldly glow.

Dimentio sat on his throne, eyes shut, mouth closed. A dark aura poured upwards, curling and grasping at the air.

_Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump._

The familiar rhythmic pulsing of the Chaos Heart rang throughout the air, and with each one the aura moved in time. The king extended his hand, moving it in front of him; a transparent, crystalline barrier surrounded him, the dark aura moving formlessly around and through it. Dimentio felt the Chaos Heart in his chest, but it was a new feeling. Back when he'd only had half of the Heart it was an ever-present incompleteness bordering on pain, reminding him of his limited time. Now he was in possession of the whole Chaos Heart, and it was like a hole had been filled. Absolute power filled his veins; he was truly indestructible.

After the guards had found him he wordlessly took the Dark Prognosticus to the throne room, sat down, and reclaimed the Chaos Heart. Those who had followed him had left without needing to be ordered; nobody knew how potent this raw energy was.

_'The man has become a god,'_ the Heart's voice said in his head. _'Such a beautiful world, laced with the fabric of the endless Void.'_

Dimentio smiled slightly, messy fangs poking out from his mouth. 'Ha ha ha...the man has become a god indeed,' he repeated. He waved a hand around, watching the darkness move through his fingers like mist. 'Such an improvement from who I was at my birth.'

_'How many years was it, Dimentio?'_

'I can't recall,' he sighed. 'Several millennia.'

_'And at the end, a world was born. All it took was the disfigurement of your face.'_ A chuckle hummed in his head and Dimentio scowled.

'There must be a way to repair that,' he growled. 'I can't look like a monster forever.'

_'I am not aware of any methods. You already made the blood offering. You are revered regardless.'_

The magician's fingers gripped the arms of the throne and any sweat evaporated off of his skin. Once again the thought of Fawful surfaced. It was only too easy to surround himself with his creations and just let the Bean be killed by nature, but the longer he went without being discovered made Dimentio all the more uneasy. It was as if a lone virus was gallivanting across his world, waiting for the chance to strike. He had spent such a short amount of time doing battle with him, and yet he had made an enormous impression. Not to mention all the ambition stored away in his heart; the magician dreaded thinking about what would happen if Fawful decided to apply the same ruthless cunning that he himself had for so long.

_'Worried about an insignificant boy?'_ the Chaos Heart scoffed. _'I'm disappointed in you, Dimentio. I would have thought presumptuous children like him were beneath you.'_

'That boy is one of the most resilient and determined individuals I've ever met,' Dimentio responded irritably; he liked the Chaos Heart better when it didn't have the ability to speak. 'Standing up to me, battling me at the Void's heart, surviving the complete destruction of the multiverse...it's inconceivable.'

_'Only due to the power of the Purity Heart,'_ his artefact stated firmly; Dimentio knew he heard contempt in its voice.

'Exactly the problem!' the king snapped. 'The Purity Heart! He couldn't use it to erase you and kill me, but it saved him!'

_'The Purity Heart is of no concern,'_ the Chaos Heart said. _'The very nature of the Void has seen to that.'_

'Hm? What do you—?'

Suddenly there was a very loud knocking on the doors and Dimentio's attention was directed to the front of the room. _'It seems you have a visitor,'_ the Heart noted.

'Who calls for my counsel?' he demanded; his lip curled in distaste at the thought of having his conversation interrupted. Somebody was yelling something to him from the other side of the door, but he couldn't understand. 'Open the door!' he shouted.

The door opened. 'Can I come in now?' The voice was decidedly female.

'Yes, enter,' the magician replied, allowing authority into his voice.

The girl ran in. 'Finally! I've been waiting outside that door listening to you talk to yourself for a million years!'

Dimentio's face lost its authoritative composure and dropped into dread; it was the same girl from before. Danni. 'Oh,' he mumbled, already wishing she would leave. 'You.'

'Hi!' he chirped. 'Sorry I got you all upset about your face and all, I just figured you knew the whole time. It looks like you're better already!' The magician was surprised she wasn't being more cautious; the dark aura around him was receding, but still very visible.

'I've been coming to terms with that,' he remarked, bored. 'What exactly do you want?'

'Oh, right!' A broad smile was plastered across her face and Dimentio couldn't help but return a light one; one would never guess she had been crafted from the Void merely days before. 'I've got news! Awesome news! Well, I guess maybe it's not so awesome but it's helpful and I tried to tell you before but you kind of threw me out and I might have sprained something but whatever.'

There was a moment of silence as she regained her composure.

'Well anyway,' she continued. 'I saw Fawful here the other day.'

'What?' Dimentio said, shocked.

_'What?'_ the Chaos Heart said, equally shocked.

'Yeah, he was walking around the streets telling me how much he needed to find you, so I took him here and he hopped the gate and ran into the castle.' Her smile was still as bright as ever.

'...and?' Dimentio had already had the conversation with Fawful in his castle. Surely she had more to tell.

'...well that's it actually. That was before I knew he was pure evil and all. I haven't seen him since, I guess he ran away.'

The magician eyed her, disappointed. 'That was...' he said, looking at her smile. '...pointless.' He slumped back into his throne. 'Nothing I don't already know. Sorry.'

Danni's smile vanished. 'What? But you were looking for him right?'

'Yes...but he's nowhere near here anymore, and your meeting with him was too far back to make a difference. Your information can't be used.'

'But I saw him!' she protested; the poor girl wanted to be of use to her god and her information was utterly worthless.

'How does that help?'

'Well, it...' she stammered, frustrated. She let out a cry of frustration and stomped out the door.

_'What a foolish girl,'_ the Chaos Heart said. '_She has the manners of a six-year-old.'_

'Do years even mean anything to you?' the jester asked.

_'I suppose not.'_

Dimentio crossed his arms. 'That girl is too full of energy,' he remarked. 'She'll get herself into trouble.'

_'Good.'_ The man frowned, but he found his own feelings mirroring the Chaos Heart's own.

Suddenly a chill went up his spin, prickling his back and neck. He made a quiet noise and smacked his hand to the back of his neck. He blinked hard. 'What was that?' he wondered aloud.

_'Gacklepflb!'_ the Chaos Heart snarled incomprehensibly.

Perturbed, Dimentio got up off his throne and walked out of the throne room.

All motion in the castle had stopped; all of its inhabitants stood stock still, staring around and into space, their eyes blank. The castle had dropped into a ghostly silence.

Dimentio took tentative steps down the hall, as if afraid going too quickly would cause them all to suddenly shatter to pieces. _What is this...?_

_'I don't know!'_ the Chaos Heart spat. _'It was that detestable Purity Heart!'_

_I thought you just told me that the Purity Heart would be of no concern._

The Chaos Heart didn't respond.

The king walked up to one of his subjects. 'You there,' he said authoritatively. The person blinked and shook his head.

'Mwuh...?' he groaned. Other people around him were coming to their senses as well.

Dimentio noticed the man's face was pale. 'What happened?' he asked.

'I don't know...' he muttered, confused. He blinked some more and put a hand on his chest. 'I...' He seemed to meet Dimentio's eyes for the first time. 'Oh, your Highness!' he exclaimed, slightly spooked at the sight of the jester's face.

The king sighed. 'What's going on around here? What happened to you?'

'I'm...not sure,' the man answered, puzzled. 'I just felt...something...and lost my train of thought I guess.'

'What did you feel?' Dimentio pressed. The man seemed to space out, trying to recall what it felt like. He started shaking his head. 'That'll be all then.'

The magician teleported onto the roof of his castle and looked out upon the small town; people in the streets were suffering the same mass affliction as the people in the castle had, with a single exception: they were all staring at the sky.

'It's shimmering...' Dimentio muttered as he followed their gaze. It was a barely noticeable phenomenon which could easily have been attributed to heat waves, but he knew better; there was nothing natural about this.

_'You know what that is, don't you?'_ the Chaos Heart said to him.

'No...' Dimentio responded, if only to hope it couldn't be true.

_The Purity Heart. It is the Purity Heart._

'No, I don't know what that was.' The king was lying through his teeth.

'What if it was that green demon?' one terrified woman cried. 'No one is safe!'

'I assure you,' Dimentio persisted through gritted teeth, 'that Fawful had nothing to do with it!' _Could he have?_ he asked the Chaos Heart privately.

_'Highly doubtful,'_ the Heart responded. _'It does present a very pressing problem however: if we can feel the effects of the Purity Heart on the world, it's possible it could be somehow retrieved. What could the boy do with that knowledge?'_

The crowd was absolutely horrified at what had taken place. They couldn't explain what they'd felt or seen, and their reactions were already bad enough without the knowledge that what was behind it could literally destroy their god. He couldn't possibly tell them.

He got up from his throne and walked to the centre of the crowd, the people dispersing from wherever he walked. 'Listen,' he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone; three thousand years of manipulation and cunning had about drained whatever compassion he'd originally possessed and summoning it back up for his subjects was a lot more difficult than he'd thought it was going to be. He extended a hand and let dark energy flow up into the air. 'This,' he said. 'This is the lifeblood of our world. This is the soul of existence. Of you. Of me. The Chaos Heart's pure energy pumps through my veins. No matter what happens...no matter what challenges arrive, I am your king. I am your god. And I will ensure the safety of each and every one of you.'

'_Watch out!_' someone screamed. '_Behind you!_'

'Wh...?' Dimentio swiveled around to find a crazed teenage boy swinging an axe at him with absolute fury in his eyes.

A very loud, reverberating _paaaaang!_ rang out as the axe struck the shield around the jester, an unbreakable wall of transparent hexagonal shapes, the Chaos Heart visible over his own chest. The stone head of the axe exploded into shards, causing the crowd to cover their faces with their hands and arms and slicing up the boy, black blood leaking from his wounds.

Wasting no time, Dimentio reached forward and grabbed the boy by the throat and lifted him up into the air. He did not struggle, nor did he gasp for breath; he simply hung limp under the king's grip, staring into his eyes with a hunger and longing Dimentio knew well.

'Why?' the boy croaked through the magician's grasp, his voice perfectly monotone. 'Why did you do this to us?'

The jester bared his teeth. 'I did _nothing_ to you, traitorous sludge.' Tightening his grip, he crushed the boy's throat, covering his hand in black blood. He let go and the corpse dropped to the floor, filling the room with a bitter stench.

All was silent. Everyone was either looking at Dimentio or the body on the ground. The jester stooped low over the body, watching the blood flow out of the mouth and throat. He touched the boy's head, his chest; prickles of electricity sparked his fingers. Steeling his nerves, he grasped the boy by the shoulders.

His existence broke into pieces and in a flash he was in the same horribly white place he had been in before, unable to discern up from down or where his own body was.

'Here again...' His voice sounded strange. Foreign.

'Yep. Here again~'

The voice hit Dimentio like a hammer to the chest. He felt himself spin what he assumed was his head around wildly, trying to determine the source of the sound. 'You...! Show yourself! _I demand you show yourself this instant!_'

'Sorry, I can't.' The voice almost sounded apologetic, and all that did was make so many more feelings well up inside of him. 'I can't let you see me.'

His chest hurt, his throat was tight; rage heated his body and his muscles tensed. He could see his body in an outline around him as he became more attuned to it. 'I'll kill you...!' he snarled. 'I'll...'

'I told him this was a bad idea,' the voice said. 'He wanted to make you angry.'

'_YOU!_' Dimentio roared. '_I'LL TEAR THAT DISGUSTING HEART FROM YOUR CHEST AND __**FEED IT TO YOUR CORPSE!**_' He couldn't move, no matter how much he wanted to.

_'Don't be a fool,'_ the Chaos Heart demanded. _'She's doing exactly what she meant to!'_

'The Heart's right Dimentio,' said his guest. It's surprise was evident. 'Yes, I can hear you too.' The girl laughed. 'My...king sends his regards.' Loathing was in her voice. 'And a warning, too: that assassination attempt was just the beginning. There are a lot more things we can do.'

_'Nothing can destroy my defenses,'_ the Chaos Heart stated firmly.

Somehow they both got the sense their enemy was smiling. 'Maybe that's not the point.' Dimentio lurched and the world was fading. 'You're going to pay for your crimes, Dimentio. You'll pay dearly.' Somehow the threat sounded sad.

Then his world came back and he was clutching the dead boy. Suddenly the sad, longing look on his face gave the jester an almost queasy feeling; he let go and allowed the body to hit the ground.

Everyone was staring at him. Some were worried. Some were sad. Some were sick. Dimentio stood up as tall as he could. _'Who are these people?'_ the Chaos Heart asked.

_Enemies of the world,_ Dimentio answered simply.

'...your Highness?' someone said timidly.

The jester's one coloured eye glowed red. 'I'll protect my world from destruction,' he said, eying them all. His arm glowed with energy. 'And now...' He smiled. 'Now we'll have to take more drastic measures.' He snapped his fingers and the energy sparked. 'Who would like to be my first volunteer?'


	8. Chapter 8: Roaming

Chapter 8: Roaming

Fawful

Fawful spent a lot of time dwelling on the things that he hated.

For example, he had spent most of his life with Cackletta dwelling on his inbred hatred of the Beanbean Kingdom's citizens, especially its royalty. He couldn't help it when the witch had raised him around the principles she held and always attempted to enforce with a brutal efficiency. He always hated the entire country expressly because she told him to.

Then Fawful was defeated and Cackletta wiped off the face of the world. After that he'd spent a lot of time hating the Mario Brothers and the Mushroom Kingdom, with his former home hiding in the back of his mind. Biding his time in the sewers of his enemies, stewing in boundless fury. Sometimes he built dummies or robots in the likeness of his foes for the purpose of tearing them apart in his rage. He sold badges too, though the location of his shop combined with the insanity Fawful displayed as a shopkeeper meant he didn't have very many customers. He hated that too, because back then beans had been his only sustenance. They also reminded him of his home, which made him hate everything even more.

Then he'd been killed and resurrected, lifted up and defeated. After Dimentio's betrayal all of the Bean's anger was directed towards the awful magician and those who'd helped him. It seemed like there was never a time in his life where he hadn't felt hatred in his heart.

This only came to mind because Fawful found himself hating what he was currently doing: walking. He'd done a lot of it recently, especially if one counted his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom before the world was destroyed, and it was through this he realized he really wasn't meant for extended periods of physical activity. He was sweating and forcing himself not to sit down and stop lest he lose track of whoever it was that was guiding them on.

Fawful resolved to make something in the near future that meant he didn't have to walk anymore. He didn't care if it was a hovercraft or a unicycle, anything was better than this.

'I have exhaustion...' he panted. He wiped his forehead on his cape.

The worst thing, he thought, was the utter silence. When he had gotten use to this girl's presence he had felt so elated to finally have somebody to speak too, but now it felt like he'd much rather be alone. Rose was the quietest person he had ever met, and no matter what Fawful tried to do he couldn't get her to talk. At least when he was alone he didn't feel eyes boring into the back of his head.

'Why do you talk like that?'

The Bean almost jumped he was so surprised. 'You have talk!' he cried, partly from relief and partly from sarcastic annoyance.

'Yes, like that,' the girl said. 'You have a really...bizarre way of speaking.'

'It is simply being how Fawful has talk,' the boy answered.

'Oh.' She coughed and then walked up beside him. Fawful turned to look at her. 'So...can you tell me about yourself?'

The Bean suddenly couldn't bring himself to speak; Rose's presence was very unsettling for him. She looked like Mimi, painted white. Her voice was like Mimi's, only without the darker edge to it. Her eyes...her eyes were exactly the same right down to the colour. It was very unsettling, seeing red against white. It didn't seem to fit like it had against green. Rose's face was timid and withdrawn, whereas Mimi's had been strong and mischievous most of the time.

He missed Mimi. He missed her a lot.

'Fawful would rather not have talk about himself,' he said. She gave him a concerned look, then turned her gaze back to the expanse in front of them.

_'You're getting tired,'_ the voice in his head said. _'Don't worry, you aren't far away from where you need to go.'_

_Where,_ Fawful thought to the woman, _are we needing to have going anyway?_

_'I don't know what it is,'_ was the answer. _'Just that it's something that has to be important.'_

The Bean increased his stride, causing Rose to have to speed up. 'Did you feel that thing earlier?' she asked him. She was suddenly very talkative.

'Yesing,' the boy answered. It was like a light tap to his chest, making it tingle. The sky had seemed to shimmer, too. He didn't know what it was for certain, but it had filled him with hope for some reason.

'I liked it,' she continued. 'It felt...good.' She said it like the word was foreign to her.

'Mhm,' Fawful agreed. 'Good.' The word sounded the same when he said it: foreign. Like nothing could be "good" anymore. 'Feh!' he spat. 'I have disgust, like a judge eating cakes of jerky.'

'...what?'

The Bean suddenly stopped and turned, facing her. 'This world has badness!' he said forcefully. 'It is being ruled by someone who has even more badness! For a time that was long, Fawful has had hopelessness. But no longer! Now he has only fury!' He could feel it building; anger mixed with determination and power.

_'And hope,'_ the mystery woman added. Fawful noticed Rose react to the comment as well; the Bean wasn't the only one she was communicating with.

'Yesing,' Fawful responded aloud. 'We will have victory. No what of the matter.' He grabbed Rose's arm and she gave a cry of alarm.

The Bean ran as fast as he could, with the girl moving fast to keep up.

They took a break later in the day to avoid pushing their bodies too hard. Fawful flopped down on the ground while Rose took her time sitting down; being in a dress meant things were done with more care. Fawful groaned, taking out his storage cube; he'd made sure to keep food and drinks on hand while adventuring with Mario and company. Either the group had bought supplies or he had discreetly and/or loudly stolen them when the group was far enough away to notice. He had to admit though, he'd take advantage of any extra meals he could get his hands on if it meant saving the supply.

He wasn't that hungry, so he just quenched his thirst, then allowed Rose to do the same.

'That...' the girl said, a nervous edge to her voice. She eyed the cube. 'What is that?'

'One of the many inventions of mine,' Fawful answered with a grin. 'Fawful has calling it the Spacial Matter Scrambling Device.'

'What does it do?'

'It has the scrambling of the atoms of things,' he explained. 'The atoms of the things that need carrying are broken down into the raw sections. The protons, neutrons, and electrons dissolve into the space-time continuum and become a gaseous cloud where the hyperstatic energies are greatly reduced and can make them appear into the cube's spacial storage unit and allow them to be carried in the form of unified photons.'

Rose blinked. 'That's cool!' she said sheepishly, and the Fawful got the awkward feeling that came from talking about things no one knew about.

'Welling,' Fawful sighed. 'It has the carrying of many things in a space of compactness.'

Tension left the girl's face as she heard something she could wrap her head around. 'How did you make it?'

'Uh...' Fawful remembered the tireless nights he had spent pouring all his energy into the thing. Everything was so complicated and often dangerous. 'If I had the explaining you would not have understanding,' he admitted.

The girl gave the cube another look. 'I believe you.' Fawful put the drink back into the cube and put the cube away.

Rose was staring into the sky. It was a little more cloudy than usual, at least from the Bean's limited knowledge of the world's weather. The girl's red eyes glimmered, probing, searching for that shimmer in the air. 'So...' she said. 'What happened here?' Fawful didn't really understand the question. 'I mean...this world. All this stuff. Where am I?'

'You are in the world of a person of badness,' the Bean explained. 'He had the destroying of everything. All worlds. Then he had the creation of this world.' Fawful gestured all around him.

Her face went horrified. '_Every _world...?' Fawful nodded grimly. 'But...all those people...!'

The boy shook his head. 'He did not have caring. He think his world has "perfection," but he has wrongness.'

'Perfection or not, he killed millions, billions—'

'Trillions,' Fawful chimed in.

'He killed _a lot of people!_' she simplified. 'How could he do such a thing? _Who_ could do such a thing?'

'Dimentio,' the boy answered. 'Is being his name.'

'Dimentio,' Rose repeated, curling her lip in disgust. 'He's a monster.'

'We will have the destroying of him,' Fawful assured. 'We will make the old worlds have life again.'

_'You shouldn't wait too long,'_ their female guide warned them.

The anxiety of loneliness and the unease of a silent companion began to lift off of Fawful as they prepared to start walking again. He didn't really know what to think about this new girl, but at least he had somebody to keep him company. He smiled a big, toothy smile, and the two of them went on their way.

*Chaos*

He bounded over the hill, faster than he ever had before. His body was strong, his legs toned, his endurance limitless. Power surged through his chest and arms, his fingers splayed and tight as if grasping the air. His muscles tensed as he hit the ground; he rolled and used the momentum to continue running.

He had a sort of adrenaline-fuelled thrill to it all; the feeling of power, strength, and agility unmatched by any. It was a lightness in his chest, a pounding of his heart, a primal exhilaration.

Yes, he enjoyed it, but there was no way he could form a coherent thought about it. It was nothing more than a basic kick. Any and all thoughts he could have had were filled by the raging bloodlust surging through his mind.

_Kill, kill, kill,_ was his only thought. The desire to maim and destroy was all he knew, along with the target he had been spawned to annihilate. _Kill the creator's foe. Kill._

He was made to kill. He was tough and deadly; his hands were claws, his mouth a sharp-toothed jaw. In his mind, past the destruction, was sentience and intelligence; he would attack his enemy relentlessly, but not wildly, nor senselessly.

His god had done well. Naturally. How could he not? He was perfect.

He was following a trail. He'd seen traces of the boy leading away from a destroyed house and followed them. They had led to a beach and he'd begun, from there, to see traces of a second person. Maybe he'd have twice as much to show his king.

He began to feel something around him. Something light. Bubbly. He didn't know what it was, and he didn't like it. It was like that...thing that had happened earlier. The thing that had put him and everyone else into a trance. Dimentio had said it was a foreign power, an evil power. A power that robbed a person of their sense and reason and opened their heart to pain and suffering.

It could only be one thing: Fawful. The one he would kill. He went onward, following this feeling. It was getting stronger, tugging at his heart.

He stopped.

There he was, exactly as Dimentio had described to him. Green skin, a red cape. There was another one with him too, a white-coloured girl in every respect. Fawful and his cohort.

He felt the lust for the boy's demise rise in his chest; he gnashed his teeth together, his mouth watering.

He ran at them.

He jumped.

He heard the girl cry out and point at him. He saw the green boy turn with alarm, reaching for something at his waist.

He was upon him.

Fawful

The thing, whatever it was, was on top of him before he could blink. The impact hurt his right arm the most; his blaster, recently drawn, bent his fingers back and his arm was forced against his chest. His back hit the grassy ground and the monster roared at him, bearing pointed teeth. Fawful recognized it as one of Dimentio's black and white creatures: an Inverse.

It opened its mouth, revealing a black tongue behind the rows of teeth. It was going to try and bite his head off. Rose was screaming; he really wished she wouldn't, it was really distracting.

His matter-of-fact thought surprised him, given there was a monster about to eat him. Any other time he'd have needed a new pair of pants, but so many confrontations with Dimentio and his minions, whatever they looked like, had made his fear vanish.

There was no way he was going to die here.

He roared and turned to the left, bringing his arm up and smashing the thing in the face with his blaster. Fawful heard the sound of one of its teeth cracking and he stuck the front of the gun up against its throat.

It immediately let go and jumped off. The Bean got to his feet and aimed his blaster at the thing, which was watching him cautiously. Fawful thought this was strange; the creatures he had fought before now had been relentless to a fault, and exploitable because of it. This one, which had begun circling him, was more careful.

An inky black liquid was dripping out of its damaged tooth. The Inverse brought a hand up to its mouth and rubbed the tooth with a pointed finger; it inspected it, frowning. All the while, the boy didn't take his eyes off of it.

It licked the tooth with its tongue and ran at Fawful, clawed hands bared. The Bean shot a ringed blast at the monster, which jumped over it. He leaped forward, hearing the Inverse land behind him, and spun around, shooting again; the projectile flew harmlessly over it.

'Gah,' he spat. 'That had embarrassment.'

Fawful cried out in pain when the Inverse crossed the distance between them and dug its fingers into his shoulders. He felt blood drip down his shoulders, staining his shirt, and grimaced.

He met the monster's eyes, biting his cheeks to try and ignore the pain; they were perfectly white, with no pupils or irises. Despite the lack of colour, he could see its expression change from rage to confusion. The grip on his shoulders loosened as the thing frowned again, furrowing its brow. Fawful's grimace loosened and he looked at the creature hard; there was some sort of intelligence beneath its face, and it was unable to understand how the Bean could be a threat to the world.

'Do something!' Rose cried. 'It's going to kill you!'

Fawful then dug his very large teeth into the thing's arm; it snarled and let go, dropping him. The boy used the distraction to aim the blaster and fire.

It struck its face; it screeched and clutched its head, yelling in pain. Fawful shot again, this time in the chest; it fell to the ground, crying out.

The Bean walked up to finish the job, but started when he saw its face; part of the monstrous visage had been burned away, revealing a blue-skinned, yellow-eyed person underneath. Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach; Dimentio was using his own people to hunt him.

'What're you doing?' Rose asked from a safe distance. 'You need to kill it!'

He didn't want to. He didn't want to kill something that looked so close to being human, or Beanian. It was so much easier to blast apart monsters, creatures with no sentience that operated on basic desire. Monsters were faceless. People were not.

He remembered the person in the house he had seen, the man who lived alone with his son. The man, without asking questions, had tried to kill him. Even though he was only a young boy, an early teenager at most, he had tried to murder Fawful. Dimentio's word was law here.

The anxiety vanished; these people were that magician's creations. They were made from the Void. They weren't natural. They might as well be faceless demons.

'...fink-rat,' he spat with disgust, and blasted it again, coating the ground with black guck.

Rose walked nervously up to look at it. 'That was...' She cleared her throat. 'Scary.'

Fawful nodded. 'Mhm,' he agreed. 'They will have creation in numbers that have greatness. Dimentio will have the destroying of us if we do not have carefulness.'

'Why does he want to kill us so badly? Why can't he just leave us alone?' Her face betrayed her painful memories and Fawful felt sad; she had already died once, and now that same person was trying to kill her again. Not that she knew it was Dimentio who had killed her.

'Because we have defiance,' the Bean answered. 'Or,' he corrected, 'Fawful has defiance. He will be killed before he has the giving up.'

The girl stared at the remains of what she only knew was a monster from her nightmares. 'I have defiance too,' she said. She caught herself. 'Uh, I mean...' She giggled lightly. 'I mean I'll defy him too.'

Fawful giggled too. 'It has contagiousness,' he said, amused.

'Yes,' Rose said, 'it has contagiousness.'

'I have chortles,' the Bean declared, chortling.

They laughed together for a little bit. It was good to know that they could find things to laugh about even now.

_'Are you okay?'_ The girl who had been guiding them was in both of their minds.

_Yesing,_ Fawful answered. He guessed Rose would have given a similar answer. Probably the exact same one, he thought with a small chuckle.

_'Dimentio's sending out monsters,'_ she warned.

_You have lateness to the party._

_'Oh no, one found you too? This is bad. We need to hurry.'_

He saw her in the distance, waving her arms. Fawful tapped Rose on the shoulder and they followed her.

They didn't have to do so for long. After a short time they began to see a structure in the distance; a building. It was a large temple, larger and taller than either the Mushroom or Beanbean Kingdoms' castles.

'What...?' Rose breathed.

_'I don't know what that is,'_ their guide told them. _'But it's definitely important. I can feel it.'_ Fawful could feel it too; it was a bubbly kind of energy in the air. Against the horizon the building looked hazy. _'Spirits,'_ she told them. _'They like to gather here, it seems. Maybe you'll find someone you're looking for.'_

They quickened their pace; he didn't know what it would be, but he had a feeling he would find something in that place.

'What do you think is in there?' Rose asked.

Fawful shrugged. That was as good an answer as any.


	9. Chapter 9: Realization

Chapter 9: Realization

?

The girl laid on the grass in the courtyard, watching the clouds go by. She enjoyed doing this. When she wasn't sent out to guide those younger ones on their way, or spring traps on Dimentio, this was all she did. She did it because the only thing in her vision was the sky. The beautiful sky, tainted red by the setting sun, and the wonderful fluffy clouds. They were the same as she had seen growing up. No matter how similar this place might be to the world she knew from her past, it would never replicate it. Even the people who shared her own skin, rather than the dark blue of Dimentio's people, were different in ways that went into their very hearts and souls. The sky was the only thing that allowed her to pretend she wasn't in a foreign world. The only thing that could let her feel free.

'My Lady?' A castle worker came into view. 'Is there something I can help you with?'

She gave a smile. 'No, I don't think so. Thank you, though.'

The white-skinned female bowed, her short brown hair briefly obscuring her green eyes. 'As you wish.'

As she turned and began walking away the woman felt like something valuable was departing with her. She didn't even know her name, yet still...

'Wait,' she called.

The worker stopped and turned around. 'My Lady?'

'Come lay down here. Please,' she added.

The woman looked confused and a little worried. 'But...'

'_Please_,' she pressed. 'I just want some company. I'm waiting for...his Highness.'

The girl looked conflicted, but obeyed and laid down. 'What are you doing?' she asked, making sure to keep a respectful and courteous tone.

'Just looking at the clouds.' Her bright eyes traced the movements of the fluffs in the air. 'Sometimes they form shapes. That one there looks a little like a person, don't you think?' She pointed to one.

The girl beside her squinted. '...no. I don't see anything, my Lady.'

The woman still wasn't used to that title. "Lady." It sounded like she was married to a Lord. It wasn't as lofty and important as the one she used to use. And then there was _him_. His "Highness." Even though he wasn't royalty at all. He wasn't anything here, no better than she was. He had accomplished nothing, and yet he has assumed command. Dimentio, the fiend with his Chaos Heart, had done the creating. The man ordering her around like a servant had just been an unfortunate accident in the magician's design.

The distaste must have been clearly shown on her face, for the woman asked, 'Is something wrong?'

She banished the look and shook her head. 'No. Nothing is wrong.' She looked at the woman beside her; she wasn't rough or calloused like some people she had seen around. Her skin was smooth and fair, her hair well-done, and her face free of sleep-deprivation and toil. It was more likely she was a castle occupant, doing some sort of job for the council; her features would be worn and tired if she worked in a village. 'What's your name?'

'I don't know if I'm worthy of being on a first-name basis with you...' she muttered, her eyes turned away.

'Nonsense,' the Lady insisted. When the girl wouldn't yield, she sighed and said, 'Name. That's an order.'

The girl sucked in her breath and exhaled, as if ashamed she were in the Lady's presence and needed to give her name. She had always hated when people did that, walked on eggshells to preserve their dignity or status because she was of a higher class. 'My name is Hana,' she said.

'Hana...' she repeated. 'It's a nice name.'

'Thank you, my Lady.' Hana smiled slightly, but not too broadly.

'Would you like to know my name?'

Her new friend seemed to ponder the thought. 'No,' she finally said. 'I don't think it would be proper.'

The Lady sighed.

'What a pleasant sight.'

Both the girls jumped to their feet, Hana letting out a cry of surprise. 'Your Highness!' she croaked. 'I was just—'

'Calm down, I'm not going to lynch you for taking a short break with my subordinate. I'm not a monster.'

Hana was still flustered and left without a word. The woman looked on sadly. 'Power is frightening,' she said to herself.

'Even when it ought not to be,' her superior added, crossing his arms. 'Have I not been benevolent enough?'

'It's the mere fact that you have power that frightens them. Even if they revere you. It's a terrifying reverence to be sure.' The man seemed to dislike this.

'So,' he said with a sigh. 'I had to meet with the council and put their minds at ease. Ever since that fluctuation in the sky people have been more on edge. More than one of them were worried it was an assault by Dimentio on us. None of them ever feel safe.'

This was one of the few times the man wasn't condescending or snide to her. Whenever he was flustered in trying to deal with people it reminded her that beneath his surety he was just another human being, and not even a very old one at that. _She_ was older than he was.

Well. That was debatable of course.

'What of Fawful and that other girl?' he asked.

'Rose, you mean.'

'Yes. Rose.' The world rolled off his tongue unpleasantly. 'The ghost girl. Ow!' She had smacked him across the back of his head.

'_Don't_ say that,' she snarled. 'She is _not_ a "ghost girl" anymore than you are.' She pinched his cheek hard, reddening the white skin, then flicked a finger through his white hair.

The man's face flushed. 'How dare you,' he growled.

'I would advise you not get too haughty, _sire_,' she warned him. 'We're all in this together.'

He glared at her, trying not to lose control. She loved seeing him like this; his almighty attitude was just a façade. '…well,' he said finally, looking up into the sky. His expression went softer, though still irritated, and the woman allowed her own light anger to fade. 'What's the news?'

'The assassination attempt was a success,' she reported. 'By that I mean the assassination attempt occurred, not that Dimentio was successfully assassinated.'

'Of course. Nothing can kill him yet. Did you confront him?'

Her heart thumped and she grimaced. 'Yes.'

'And?'

'He was incredibly angry.'

'Ah ha ha!' the so-called king laughed. 'No doubt!' He grinned and looked straight at her; his expression was partly heartening and partly unsettling to her. 'It should put him on edge. He should know he's dealing with things out of his control now that he's aware of your presence here.'

'I don't like it,' she told him. 'What if he—'

'He can't touch you, don't you worry. You're too valuable to me to lose.' He said it completely devoid of emotion. 'Back to the previous topic; what of the other two?'

'They found that thing I was leading them to.'

The man was curious. 'What was it?'

'A temple. They went inside and I came back here.'

'Why not follow them in?'

'I'd be useless in there. I don't know anything about it.'

'That means,' he said, 'we have no more control over them.'

'Not until they find whatever's in there.'

They both looked at each other; the woman was worried and the man was unnerved. Fawful, at least, was the only way they could find the Purity Heart. She would be overtaken by the planet, and even if he was powerful Dimentio could kill him with the raise of an eyebrow. Neither of them had been imprinted upon by the Purity Heart, and neither of them were from the Mushroom World that the Heart had been created in.

'So,' the woman muttered, 'we wait.'

'So we do,' the man replied.

Both turned their eyes to the sky, looking for a hint of that ripple they had seen before.

Dimentio

Another red sky. Another day gone by.

The torches around the castle were lit; they weren't as efficient as electric lights, but they had an old fashioned charm he liked, so torches it was. He could hear the sounds of people going to and fro in the castle. The night guards would be beginning their rounds, and the people living in the castle would be going to bed to prepare for work the next day.

Dimentio, on the other hand, was not in the castle; rather, he was on the roof. He was laying down, gnarled hands behind his deformed head.

'I wonder,' he mused. 'Could it have worked?'

_'That Inverse/citizen hybrid you sent?'_ the Chaos Heart asked.

'Indeed.'

_'I wouldn't put too much faith into them,'_ was the response. _'They may have more than mindless savagery in them, but the boy is far too lucky to be killed so easily.'_

'Lucky,' Dimentio repeated. He doubted it was all luck, otherwise he'd have surely been killed by now.

_'What of the girl who contacted you?'_ the Heart questioned.

The king gritted his teeth, forcing himself to quell his own fury. 'She can't hurt me.' His words were pure venom.

_'She did something to that boy who attempted to kill you,'_ pressed the voice in his mind. _'What else could she do?'_

'How can we know if _she_ did that? She's powerless!' He didn't want to entertain the thought that she could have some influence over him.

_'Perhaps in her old world. But here, in a world made from the Void? Who knows?'_

That was a frightening thought. She wasn't from here. He was completely certain her male accomplice was also from a different world, perhaps one he had never visited before. It was more than probable that they could have some sort of Purity Heart-esque influence on the people of this world. If they could use that to control the will of his citizens...Dimentio got a very bad feeling in his chest.

Deciding that he needed some more space to think, the jester teleported off the roof.

Upon reappearing, the first thing he saw, felt, and smelled was the grass that grew up over his head. He sputtered through a mouthful of the long blades and flew up over the foliage.

Looking around, he realized that he didn't know where he was. He could teleport back to his castle easily (all the people provided an excellent beacon), but when it came to going there to somewhere else, he was effectively blind. In places he knew like the back of his hand it was easy to go anywhere he wanted, but otherwise he needed a reference point. It embarrassed him to admit it to himself, but he had such a small understanding of his world.

_'How ironic, for a god to not know anything about his own magnificent creation.'_ Dimentio really, _really_ wished he could have made the Chaos Heart non-sentient. It's constant mockery of him was exhausting and annoying.

'I may be omnipotent,' the magician said, irritated, 'but I am not omniscient.'

_'Only omnipotent through my power,'_ the Heart responded. _'Without me you are nothing.'_

'I have a body,' Dimentio snorted. 'I could say the same about you.' The Chaos Heart declined to reply.

Grass and trees. That's what he saw around him. Nothing more. No buildings or people. He floated through the air absentmindedly; no wind blew and he found himself hot in what he was wearing. Now that he was reminded of his attire he realized that he hadn't changed out of his jester underclothes for the entirety of his time here. It hadn't been long, but he'd expected to have to at least sleep.

_'Why have any need to rejuvenate your body when my power runs through your veins?' _Dimentio felt pleased at the thought of never needing to sleep, ever; it heightened his sense of godhood.

The sun was dipping very low; he mustn't have been incredibly far from his castle, due to the identical time of day. Going too far around the planet would likely cause some changes.

The air was getting cold. He watched the sun's light gradually recede.

'Chaos Heart,' he said to no one. 'I created this planet. What about the sun and stars?'

_'Those are woven from the Void as well,'_ came the Heart's answer.

'So what happens if I go beyond this planet's atmosphere?'

_'You suffocate in space.'_

Dimentio paused. 'Assume,' he said slowly. 'Assume that I could breathe in space. If I went beyond this planet's atmosphere, what would I find?'

_'Who knows? All you envisioned was this planet. You could find an endless expanse of stars and lifeless rocks. Or perhaps it would simply end and give way to eternal nothingness. You'd have to find out yourself, and you can't carry oxygen with you.'_

The magician shook his head. 'I am the master of dimensions. I could find a way.'

_'And leave your followers?' _Dimentio had already known he couldn't do that.

The grass rustled. The king spun around in the air and looked down at the tall grass; nothing was there. It was motionless and silent.

_'A predator of your own creation. Watch out,'_ the Heart warned.

_Is there really anything to be afraid of?_ Dimentio replied in his mind, though he was nervous to find out what it was.

The grass shuffled again and the jester threw a block of dimensional magic at the moving spot. A _boink!_ sounded, but nothing gave a cry of pain.

A few moments passed where Dimentio could only hear bugs chirping and wind blowing softly.

Suddenly a thing exploded out of the grass, spewing out a high-pitched shriek. The magician quickly brought himself above the creature's arc and watched the blur descend back into the grass.

Dimentio touched ground and flung his arms out to his sides; the grass around him tore itself apart from the ground up. He looked wildly around to find the thing that had attacked him, before finally feasting his eyes on what was likely a bloodthirsty, dangerous—

The magician's face turned incredulous. 'What the Underwhere?'

The thing, whatever it was, was about up to his knees in height. It's body was an almost spherical mass of light fur with two pudgy feet dug into the ground, allowing it to stand. It had two large eyes on the upper portion of its body and a huge mouth stretching almost from end to end with two white fangs sticking out from both the top and bottom of its mouth.

'It's like a...a...' He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

_'What in all of existence is a "Goomba"?'_ the Chaos Heart demanded.

'Have you been reading my memories?' Dimentio growled.

_'Sometimes even a disembodied, destructive heart can become bored.'_

The thing gave a growl and jumped at him again, mouth agape. The magician, shocked as he was, put his arm in front of his face and blocked the weak attack with a barrier.

'I don't understand!' Dimentio exclaimed as he used a burst of energy to get the creature away from him. 'What _is_ that thing?'

_'I do not know everything, Dimentio.'_

He ducked under another assault from whatever was trying very hard to bludgeon him into submission with its own body. 'And you don't have an idea?'

_'Not a clue. I've never seen such a thing before.'_

Dimentio racked his mind for an answer. Fawful had done something during the universe's creation. He had flown into the heart of the void with the Purity Heart and then...he couldn't remember anything coherent after that. His memories were a scrambled mess until he woke up on his world.

Fawful had been part of the creation of his world. Undoubtedly he would have influenced it in some way with his garbled thoughts at the time. This creature looked very similar to those creatures called "Goombas" that he'd seen scattered around the dimensions. In the Mushroom Kingdom they were everywhere, so that was likely their home dimension. Fawful had obviously been exposed to Goombas all the time then, so that meant...

'Oh Grambi above...' he breathed, terror gripping his heart. His guard went down long enough for the thing to collide with his head using its hard skull. He fell over and it jumped on him, shouting at him angrily. He snapped his fingers and it left the ground, flying off into the distance. _This is bad,_ he realized as he stood back up. _This is absolutely terrible. Like a pack of mountain lions chasing a frazzled hunter. Like a tornado assailing an unprotected village full of stubbornly stationary townsfolk. Like a king's consort who is secretly a middle-aged man!_

_'Your similes are beginning to worry me,'_ the Heart commented.

'Don't you understand?' he shouted hysterically. 'Do you have any idea what that boy has done?' His distorted face was contorted in absolute horror. 'He's influenced my world! He's put creatures here that shouldn't be here! _Who knows what else he could have accidentally done?_'

He was losing his grip on his own world. A boy with no idea what he even wanted had used his thoughts and run rampant through his magnificent creation. 'He was using the Purity Heart!' he continued to scream. 'My world is infected with its horrid energy!'

_'__**Dimentio!**__' _the Chaos Heart exclaimed, disgusted. _'Control yourself! The Purity Heart is of no concern!'_

'No! You don't comprehend the severity of what's happened!' he spat, his voice shaking. 'I built a castle out of nothing! Automatically! Out of my own subconscious desires! If Fawful had a part in creating my world, that means the same thing could have happened! What he would subconsciously desire more than anything in the world is—'

He was interrupted by a brilliant flash as a pillar of bright light shot up into the air miles away from him, illuminating the night sky. Dimentio watched, aghast, as the sky shimmered slightly, just as it had before. Just like the last time, the magician felt a presence of _goodness_ in the air.

'...a way to render you useless,' he finished, his throat turning dry. 'A way to link the world with the Purity Heart. Even if you took your precautions and sealed it away, the chain between us and it is woven into this world.' He felt a fear like he had never felt. He had created a perfect world and suddenly the possibility of it being taken from him seemed all too likely now. He knew now that he couldn't sit around anymore, he couldn't ignore the problem. Not with that boy running rampant. Not with those two interlopers scheming against him.

They all needed to die. If they didn't, he would.


	10. Chapter 10: Place of Goodness

Chapter 10: Place of Goodness

Fawful

'Whoa...' The word escaped both of their mouths. Neither of them had expected the building to be so tall.

They found themselves in a huge, cylindrical room completely at odds with the building's appearance from outside. Made from dark stone, the walls extended up an unbelievable amount, the ceiling shrouded in darkness above them. The bottom floor had two doors in the room, grey and adorned with a heart each. There were no torches or windows to light up the room, yet they found that they were able to see easily. A staircase spiraled up around the perimeter of the room, reaching up above them. In the centre of the room was a big sculpture of a dragon, with large cheeks and oddly dull-looking teeth and tiny wings jutting out of its bulbous body. Three thin, papery tails came out of its backside and curled up at the ends. Three odd, curly stalks extended from its head, ending in lumpy, spherical things. It was suspended on a platform.

'That dragon has really huge claws...' Rose noted.

'It has silliness,' Fawful scoffed. 'Like it had the eating of too many cakes of fatness!' He laughed.

'It kind of does look chubby.' Rose giggled. 'The building is huge!' Her voice echoed throughout the room. 'There's no way it looked this big from outside!'

'Hmm...' the Bean mused. 'Oddities of dimensions?'

'I wonder how high the ceiling is. I...' She followed the stairs up into the black abyss above and shuddered when it was lost from view.

'This has the reminding of Fawful,' the boy suddenly said. 'I must have the building of a new Headgear so that we can have flight.'

'F-flight? What?' the girl stammered.

'Yes!' Fawful shouted. His voice came back and rang in their ears. 'We will be able to have travel around this world at speeds of greatness, like that of a fat man eating a large cake of chocolate!'

'And that's...good?'

The Bean gave her an incredulous look. 'Duhing.' Rose's only response was to stare up at the ceiling.

The two kids walked up to the centre of the room and stared into the large eyes of the dragon. It was large, to be sure, and it's belly could definitely both of them several times over. Fawful knew it was a dragon, but for some reason he just couldn't be frightened by it; it looked like a dragon that had eaten one too many meals.

Rose had left his side and was looking around the statue. Fawful reached up and touched the huge snout, which was at the ground in a way that made it look like it was sniffing him. He couldn't tell what the stone was, but it was hardy. For some reason the enormous creature looked very familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. He could swear he'd seen it before, maybe in a picture...

'Fawful!' his female ally called from the other end. 'There's something here!'

Fawful ran around the dragon statue to where she was standing. In the back of the pedestal of the statue was a heart engraving. 'This has importance!' he declared aloud, making Rose wince from the noise, and immediately set about trying to find a clue.

'While I agree...' the girl said. 'Do you have any experience with this sort of thing?'

'Noping,' the Bean answered. 'But the mustache brothers are having much experience, so Fawful will do what they would have doing!'

'"Mustache brothers?"'

'Two brothers of annoyingness who have gotten into the hair of Fawful's (Rose took a tentative glance at the boy's mostly-hairless head) times that have plenty!'

'Were they bad people?'

'Yesing!' he shouted. 'They—' A sudden pang of loss hit Fawful's heart and he stopped walking, a look of crushing sadness in his face. '...or...' He didn't know what to think about them anymore. He didn't know what to think about any of them anymore. They had been his greatest enemies and closest allies. When he had been plummeting to his non-existence in the Void, he had called them friends. He had felt love towards them. All of them. Even the Mario Brothers themselves. And yet, now that he was here, alive, he didn't know whether that had just been an emotional reaction as he knew he would cease to be, or... He was a confused jumble of mixed emotions. '...to Fawful, they were being people of much badness.'

'Why not to others?' she prodded.

The Bean was silent for a moment, and sighed. 'To others they were people of heroism and goodness.'

'...what were _you_ to others?' She starting giving a look Fawful didn't like.

'...Fawful supposes he was a person of much badness.'

Rose stared at him. 'Are you evil, Fawful?'

Fawful found that he didn't know what to answer. He had never lost faith that what he did was the right thing to do. He knew the Beanbean Kingdom would be far greater under his mistress' rule. He knew with all he was that the Mushroom Kingdom would too. He knew that he would be a great leader. A charismatic leader. He would revolutionize the world. And yet...he knew that there were other, far less righteous reasons behind him. Revenge. A lust for power and admiration. And fury. A white-hot fury had burned in his heart for his entire life, burned for the wrongdoings of the world Cackletta had enlightened him to. But he had travelled with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Blumiere, Timpani, and all of the others. He had seen their selflessness. Their kindness. Was that the world Cackletta had warned him about?

What was right and what was wrong?

What did _he_ want?

He had been asking himself that since he had been liberated from Dimentio's traitorous hands by the very people he'd come to despise. Cackletta had embraced the term "villain" like it was martyrdom. Like she was fighting against oppression. She had spoken like they all deserved the pain she'd wrought on others for forsaking them. What was villainy? Was it doing the things that you had to do to get ahead and further the world? Was it following through with an insatiable desire for power and command? Was it hurting people simply for its own sake? Was Cackletta a villain? Was he? Was Dimentio? Or was Mario? Mimi? Rose?

'I don't know,' he finally said, his voice cracking.

'What do you want, Fawful? What is your goal?' Her voice had a horribly serious edge to it and he remembered how she died: at the hands of a madman.

'To have the restoration of the homeworld of mine,' he said truthfully.

'And after that?'

'...I do not have knowledge.' He stared at the floor. 'I do not know if I have evil. I do not have knowledge of evil.' Rose was silent. A horrible feeling leapt up into his chest: finally, he had a companion. Was he going to lose her too? 'R-Rose!' he gasped suddenly, the echo piercing. 'Do not have the leaving of me!'

'Fawful...' She crossed her arms, looking at him in that scrutinizing way. 'I'll trust you for now.'

Relief passed over his face. 'Thanking you!' he sighed.

'I don't know you...but you don't seem evil to me,' she added. Fawful smiled.

They met a door with a very large lock on it. 'This has lock!' the Bean exclaimed.

'Do you really have to shout so much? You're hurting my ears.'

'Sorry.' Fawful brought his voice down. 'Way of the any, it is requiring a key, which will have placement in a chest of treasure somewhere in this building.'

'How do you know?'

Fawful shrugged. 'Things just have happen this way.' Rose looked at him dubiously.

They found that only one door in the room wasn't locked, so they went in without hesitation.

They emerged in a hallway crawling with enemies. 'Oh poo,' the Bean uttered, and every enemy turned to face them.

'Why did you make noise?' the girl exclaimed with fear.

Fawful took out his blaster. 'Because Fawful is I,' he answered, yawning.

The room was full of relatively weak enemies that took little effort to take down. The enemies dropped some sort of currency when felled, with the occasional edible item, which Fawful scooped up automatically. When Rose questioned him on his motives for picking up money and food from the ground that the creatures were inexplicably carrying, the Bean merely replied 'Red mustache would have doing,' and she decided not to press the matter.

The Bean took out his storage cube, put the things away, and revealed a spare blaster, handing it to Rose. 'Wait, what?' she asked, staring at the device.

'Have the using of this to have the defending of your person,' he explained.

'But...' She examined the blaster confusedly. 'I don't even know what this _is_.'

'Why do you have need to?' Fawful gripped the handle with both hands, pointed it at a wall, and pulled the trigger, which blasted the wall with a ring of energy. 'Have the doing of that.'

The girl looked very nervous, but gripped the handle (too hard, Fawful thought) with two hands. Pointing it, shaking, at the wall, she had her finger on the trigger. '...I can't do it!' she cried.

'Whying?'

'I'm scared...'

Fawful smacked a palm to his face. 'It does not have scariness!' he groaned. 'Just have the pulling of the trigger!'

Gulping, Rose pulled. The sound of an energy blast rang out through the air and she shrieked, falling onto her back, the blaster clattering onto the floor. Fawful smacked his other palm to his face and complained, but said it was good enough. She got up, still clutching the gun very tightly.

They opened the door at the end of the hallway and found themselves in an empty room with a chest in the middle. 'We have success!' the Bean beamed, running over to the chest.

'Uh...are you sure we should touch that?' Rose asked anxiously. 'It's just...sitting there...with nothing around it...'

'Phooey!' Fawful exclaimed. 'Chests always have the containing of keys! Duuuuuuuuuuh.' He was already in front of the chest. 'And we are needing a key to have progress!'

'Well yeah but what if it's a trap?' the girl pressed further. 'And you, I dunno, open the chest and all these spikes appear and slowly descend on us from the ceiling or something? Or it fills with water and the door locks? Or a bunch of monsters come out of nowhere and we have to fight them?'

Fawful pondered. 'Hm...' A grin crossed his face. 'Nope! I am not thinking there is any chance of that!' He happily put his hands on the handle of the chest.

'Fawful, no, don't!' Rose cried.

The chest opened and the Bean retrieved a key from inside. 'Hoorays!' he shouted with enthusiasm.

Suddenly, the room began to shake and rumble. 'I told you!' the girl hollered as dread filled them. 'We're doomed!'

And then nothing happened.

A few tense moments passed. Still, nothing happened. '...huh?' Rose looked around the room; nothing had changed. 'But...what?'

'Psh!' Fawful giggled. 'I had the telling of you.' They went back to the other end of the room and opened the door.

Their eyes suddenly widened with surprise; Rose clasped a hand to her mouth. The hallway was completely different; where there was once a floor there was now a bottomless expanse of blackness. Candles lined one side of the wall, some flickering with purple flames, others with blue. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and odd, birdlike creatures hovered over the abyss.

'But we were just here a second ago!' Rose whispered furtively, trying to avoid catching the attention of the enemies in the room.

'Trap?' Fawful suggested quietly.

'I told you!' the girl replied furiously. 'I told you there'd be a trap!'

'But what else was I to have doing?' he snarled back.

'I don't know, I thought you knew what you were doing!'

'Why do you have annoyingness?'

'Why do you do impulsive things?'

'_WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!_'

Fawful's immature response was a tad too loud; the enemies noticed them again and a couple flew at them. The Bean's companion shrieked and fired a bunch of blaster shots randomly, eyes closed. Fawful dropped to the ground, just barely avoiding a wayward projectile. There was a crash and the chandelier dropped from the ceiling, slamming into the enemies on its way down.

Then it hit something over the pit that Fawful could not see, sending an ear-splitting noise throughout the room, before tumbling down into the void, along with the spoils of the chandelier's victory over the beasts it had slain.

The boy stood in stunned silence while Rose was on the ground clutching the blaster. 'What did I hit?' she demanded, eyes still shut.

'The...chandelier,' Fawful replied.

'Are the things gone?'

'...most.'

She opened her eyes. 'Why do you look so...shocked?'

The Bean chose not to answer; instead, he walked slowly out to the edge of the abyss. He put a tentative foot in front of himself, making sure not to stumble, and lowered it, ignoring Rose's protests. To his surprise, he felt solid ground. He smiled triumphantly and walked out another step, then jumped. It was sturdy, even if he didn't know what it was. 'A floor of invisibility!' he told her. 'Have come!' The girl hesitated, but followed. When she reached the edge, she seemed to turn whiter and stared down the pit. 'Do not have worry!' the Bean assured her. 'It has solidness!'

She shook her head; her cheeks had flushed red, and Fawful noticed her ears turning a similar colour. She had a terrified look in her eyes. 'I...I can't...' she murmured.

Suddenly, he was looking into Mimi's helpless eyes and an overwhelming desire to help her took him over. He walked over to her and extended a hand, giving an encouraging look. 'You can have success!' he told her. 'Fawful has belief in you!' She stared at him, shaking her head. 'On of come!' he groaned. 'Fear is having you!' He clasped her hand tightly and looked at her with such intensity and faith that her worry seemed to ebb slightly. 'Do not have worry,' he said, his voice lower. 'Fawful has you.'

She nodded. 'O-okay...' Legs wobbling, she made her way out onto the invisible floor. 'Oh help me...' she choked. Fawful squeezed her hand and they made some headway.

'See?' the Bean said. 'This has ease!'

'...y-yeah!' Rose laughed nervously. 'Yeah it kind of does!'

'Nothing can happen when Fawful has yo—'

His sentence was abruptly cut off as his foot felt the open air and he suddenly plummeted over the edge. The girl screamed as she was yanked with him, and then they stopped falling. Fawful hung from Rose's arm as she struggled to hold the both of them up.

They hung there, with Rose suddenly very silent. 'Rose?' the inventor called, and looked up to see what was wrong. He immediately realized she was wearing a dress and his head snapped down and the next second he was staring, red-faced, into the black abyss and feeling very afraid. 'Can you have the pulling of us up?' he asked desperately.

Grunting, she climbed back up onto the invisible floor and pulled Fawful up. She retreated into the fetal position and refused to talk or move no matter what the Bean said to try and get her to move. He stood up tried to think like Mario; obviously there was a set path they needed to follow. He looked at the wall to his right, the one filled with candles. That had to be it; it was the only thing that looked peculiar. Purple and blue flames...he imagined it as if it was a map of the room and realized that all they had to do was follow the path that the purple flames laid out and ignore the blue ones.

He shot the remaining enemies in the room, watching in horror as their money and the rare item fell to their demise, and after finding that Rose would not budge, simply propped her up on his back and carried her.

He put her onto solid, visible ground again once they were back into the main room. Rose was still, but he could see that she was shivering slightly. He sighed; she was so afraid of everything. If she'd been around to accompany him on his adventure with Mario and company she would have been broken within the first day. He supposed she couldn't help it though; her life had been fairly normal up until the day of her death, and then that was it. She wasn't conditioned to deal with the strife he was. He mentally gave thanks to Cackletta for not letting him end up like her.

'Rose,' he said to her. 'Please have the getting up.' She would not have the getting up. He lightly prodded her with his foot. 'We are needing to have the get-going,' he continued. When she wouldn't move, he sighed and said, 'I will have the leaving of you, alone, with no one to have the protecting of you. You will have aloneness. Helplessness.'

After a few more seconds of staying on the ground, Rose got up off the ground. 'Sorry...' she muttered, shaken. 'I was...scared.' Fawful just nodded, then turned around and made his way towards the door. He turned the handle and opened it, then walked into the room.

The girl's eyes widened and she immediately clasped both hands to her mouth. '_Oh god!_' she gasped.

The room was full of corpses; they were all skeletons, their skin and muscles worn away by time and likely carnivorous creatures too. They were spread throughout the room in various positions; some were lying on their backs, some knelt, some had their hands covering their faces, and others still were curled up in the fetal position. 'Those are sk...skele...'

'Skeletons,' the Bean finished for her. 'Wowing, that has...' He didn't know how to complete the sentence, but he certainly hadn't been expecting to see a room full of dead bodies in this place. He began exploring the room, minding the cadavers.

'How can you be so calm,' she called, walking carefully to catch up to him, 'when we're in a room full of...dead _things?_'

Fawful wondered why Rose was so unnerved. He supposed he had seen enough Dry Bones in his life that a room full of skeletons didn't bother him. 'Things of deadness did not have true deadness for times of longness back in the homeworld of mine,' he answered.

'What, like ghosts?'

'Yes, that has exactness!'

She looked at him with utter bafflement. 'How in the world did you _live?_ That sounds awful!'

Fawful shrugged. 'I am guessing I simply have awesomeness,' he answered, fighting back a snicker.

'Uh huh,' she said sarcastically. 'I'm sure.' She gave a nervous laugh and kept close to Fawful, making sure not to stray too far out of reach in case she were to stumble and fall into one of the skeletons. 'What do you think they are?'

'I am not knowing,' the Bean answered. On closer inspection, Fawful saw that the skeletons belonged to a variety of species. 'Maybe they are people from the dimensions of destructedness.'

'Maybe they're shadows of what used to be...' the girl added, drawing closer.

Despite the musty smell of the room, Fawful couldn't help but notice Rose's smell. He remembered Mimi's particular scent and was surprised to find that the girl standing close to him now had a different one. It wasn't a slight difference either; it was very different. It wasn't Mimi's, but...

It was pleasant.

Suddenly Fawful's walk was a little less steady than before.

'Please don't get scared,' she said, her voice pitiful. 'One of us has got to be brave, and I'm definitely...not.'

The Bean thought of doing a few things: he could grab her hand, or say something comforting and complimentary. He didn't do either. He didn't do anything to make himself look impressive, or to ease her fears or make her happy. He didn't want to. He felt afraid. He didn't want Rose at all. He wanted Mimi.

So instead he nodded and said: 'Okayo.'

'Hey!' she said. 'That one there...something's in its hand!'

Fawful crouched down and inspected it. It held in its hand a dull, heart-shaped stone. 'Bluh,' he groaned. 'I have had the seeing of far too many hearts.' He plucked the heart from its hand without a word.

_'Why are you here?'_

Fawful and Rose jumped; Rose hollered with fright. 'Wh...what?' Fawful exclaimed.

_'Why are you in this sacred place of goodness? You reek of chaos and destruction!'_

The skeleton lumbered to its feet; Fawful felt Rose slump against him, whimpering with complete and utter horror. The Bean stood strong and took out his blaster, aiming it at the corpse's chest. 'I do not have chaos and destruction!' he said firmly.

_'Liar. You smell like darkness and death. Just like him.'_

'Liking who? Dimentio?'

At this the skeleton gave forth a moan that echoed off the walls; all of the other bodies in the room started to shake. _'Die and rot in your filth and evil!'_

The other skeletons got up to their feet. 'F-F-Fawful...!' the Bean's companion sputtered. 'Th-they're...!'

'Do not have worry!' he said, his words quivering more than he liked. He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. 'Do you have remembrance of how to shoot?'

'I don't know, I think I might be a little—'

'Cease taking!' the Bean barked. 'Commence shooting!'

Fawful stuffed the rock in his pocket and put two hands on his blaster as the bodies kept rising.


	11. Chapter 11: Cr—icket

Chapter 11: Cr...icket

Rose

Skeletons.

Corpses.

Dead bodies.

Rose had never screamed so hard in her life. She had never felt such horrible, heart-stopping terror before. They lurched forward, bony creatures of all shapes and sizes completely intent on destroying her.

'ROSE!' the green, large-toothed boy named Fawful shrieked. 'YOU ARE BEING A DISTRACTION OF ENORMITY!' There was a large _bang!_ when he shot one of the bodies with his blaster and the girl suddenly remembered she had one of the devices in her own hands. She stared down at it, hands shaking, and tried to remember how the thing worked. Gripping it the way Fawful had told her, she aimed it at one of the corpses and fired; the blast knocked the skeleton backwards and the recoil sent Rose stumbling as well. She crashed into another body and they both fell to the ground.

She found herself staring into the skeletal face of what looked like a large, anthropomorphic turtle. She tried to scream, but her throat was far too dry for that, so what came out was more of a pitiful croak. The girl cracked its face with the blaster and flung herself away from it, shooting it for good measure. It broke apart, tumbling to the ground in a mass of bones.

One of the walking dead grabbed her by the shoulders. _'Why are you here?' _it yelled. _'Go away!'_

Panicked, Rose punched the thing in the chest and pain blossomed in her knuckles and up her wrist. The skeleton was knocked back slightly, then punched her in the chest as well; the wind was blown out of her lungs, her eyes bulged, and she dropped to the ground with her hands wrapped around herself. She made laboured, strangled gasps as she struggled in vain to get air into her convulsing body.

The zombie stared down at her; she didn't know how it was possible, but its eyes seemed to radiate hate despite having no skin or muscles capable of forming expressions. It raised its foot above her head, prepared to stomp her to death.

A blast exploded against its head and it yelled, falling to the side. 'Rose!' Fawful shouted, fearful. He tried fighting his way through the hoard but it was far too dense; the masses of bodies forced him to leave her lying on the ground.

She forced air back into her lungs, gasping with sweet relief when the terrible feeling in her chest subsided. The girl got to her feet and readied the blaster, gritting her teeth. She was absolutely terrified, but she felt adrenaline coursing through her veins and wasn't going to let these things get her. One ran at her, intent to kill; she screamed and blasted a hole in its ribcage, then shot it again, blowing it to pieces. She didn't know exactly what it was that she held in her hand, but she had to hand one thing to Fawful:

It was awesome.

She shot another one, and another, the action growing easier with each pull of the gun's trigger. The skeletons dropped like flies, breaking apart, their rage nothing against superior firepower. It was almost...fun. As fun as something could be when there was a possibility of being ripped apart by skeletons.

'Rose!'

'What?'

'Have caution!' the Bean warned her. 'They—' His words were cut off as he was grabbed from behind.

'They what? They what?' she called.

She didn't need to be told again; several skeletons rose up and pieced themselves back together, holes and all. _'Your weapons can't hurt us!'_ one of them said. _'You can't kill what is already killed!'_

The thrill was wearing off and Rose was beginning to feel the pit of fear in her stomach again. She shot them, they dropped, and then they stood right back up again. She was sweating, her heart was pounding, and her head was searching for a way to somehow make their defeat permanent; she couldn't think of any.

She saw the first skeleton among their numbers; it was marked differently than the rest, tinged red. That had to be it; if that one was beaten, the rest would follow!

She shot a path through the crowd of monsters, gritting her teeth; that thing was going down. When she had a clear shot, she fired. Unfortunately, it missed, striking another skeleton. The red foe whipped its head around, locking eyes with her and freezing her heart solid. She shot a few more times, but with each passing second her aim grew steadily worse and her whole body shook. All the while the red skeleton advanced on her, murder in its eyes.

Finally, she hit it. It yelled in a hollow tone and stumbled, but steadied itself; it had no visible wound. 'Uh...!' Rose stammered, then squealed as one skeleton lifted her off her feet. The red skeleton then tore a long, solid-looking bone off its ribcage and held it tightly in its hand, swinging it like a bat. 'No, go away!' she screamed as it lifted the bone above its head. 'Fawful! Fawful help! Shoot the red skeleton! _FAWFUL!_'

A terrible pain exploded in her head and she blacked out.

Fawful

The skeletons dropped like flies.

He had taken down the red skeleton with a few strategic shots at specific places on the body, and then absolutely destroyed it to the point where nothing was left. After the leader was gone, every other body immediately stopped moving and turned to dust.

Fawful rushed over to the unconscious body of Rose. Crimson blood leaked from her forehead, which was badly smashed in. Looking at her made him shiver; it was just like Mimi's final moments before the end of the Mushroom World back before everything had been reborn.

Mimi wouldn't eat the Mushroom to save her life, he remembered. If she had eaten it, maybe two, she could have lived and he could have had her with him now. They could have had a better chance.

_Is it wrong...that I...still love him...?_

The Bean shook his head furiously, his hands grasping his temples. 'Augh...' he groaned, feeling a lump in his throat. He forced the feeling away; there was no time for that. He took out his storage cube and retrieved a Super Shroom he'd had lying in there for a while. He held it in one hand while using his other to prop her mouth open. He lowered it into her mouth, then moved her jaw up and down to force her to chew the food. He knew from experience (mostly Cackletta doing this to him) that the liquid insides of the Shroom would go down her throat with no effort required on her part.

He waited for a moment, his eyes fixed on every feature of her face, looking intently at her forehead in particular. After a minute it was clear she was getting better, though her wound hadn't healed and she hadn't woken up.

Fawful sighed, then lifted her onto his back, letting out a choked gasp under the weight of another human being. Rose wasn't that heavy, but the Bean boy's strength was definitely not physical.

He walked out the door and set her on the ground, then flopped onto his back, cursing himself for letting himself be this frail. He felt in his pocket and retrieved the heart-shaped rock, inspecting it. It wasn't particularly impressive; just a heart-shaped rock of little value outside of this temple.

He got up and walked over to the statue of the chubby dragon, looking at the heart-shaped hole in the base. It obviously fit the stone, as he knew it would. That was just how these things worked. He put the stone into the hole; it slid in smoothly.

The statue began to shake, the room groaning with a muffled growl. The doors rattled, the stairs shook. The stone in the statue's base shone white, and the light moved up the statue until it was a huge orb of whiteness, bathing the room in the first true light it had experienced.

A crack split in the stone and Fawful clamped his hands around his ears at the horrible grinding sound. More fractures tore in the structure, the light rose to an unbearable luminosity. Finally, the stone began to fall, the statue breaking apart like an egg.

A roar wracked his body with tremors; as the light died down he saw a huge creature lift itself onto its hind legs, displaying its majesty for all to see.

It was chubby.

Its feet came crashing down, the impact making Fawful fall onto his rear. The dragon, adorned with red scales save its tan underbelly, fixed them with large, pale green eyes. 'Who are you?' it growled. The Bean hadn't encountered many dragons before, but judging by its voice he was surprised to come to the conclusion that it was a female. 'Where am I?'

'Uh...!' Fawful gulped.

'_SILENCE!_' the dragon bellowed, whipping her head this way and that. 'What sort of magic is this? I feel—' It paused and tensed. 'I feel...' Then, in a move Fawful found very odd, the dragon _smiled_. He had no idea that was even possible. 'I feel _alive!_' It lifted its head and roared again. 'I am alive! No longer a worthless soul, shackled in the deepest pits of the dreaded Underwhere!' She smacked her palm against the ground, her dark claws scraping the stone. 'Freedom is mine!'

In the face of this hulking creature, Fawful felt a level of fear and admiration he had never felt before. Even if it was chubby, it held itself with a grace he'd never seen in his life. 'Um...hi-ing,' he squeaked.

His heart stopped when the dragon moved its attention to him. 'You!' she growled. 'Who are you?'

'I...' He gulped. 'I am Fawful...' He was sure he'd never sounded like such a child in his life.

'Who in the world names their child _Fawful?_' she snorted. 'That is one of the most revolting puns I have ever heard!'

The Bean stood to his feet, growing hot and red in the face. 'How _daring_ you?' he snarled. 'I will have you knowing that I am a genius of greatness and a conqueror of kingdoms!'

'You appear far too small for kingdom conquering,' the dragon noted. 'Surely you are not more than ten?'

'I have an age of greaterness than that which you have saying!' he sputtered out with growing ire and embarrassment.

'What is your age, then?'

'I...' He realized he had no idea, and blew a raspberry.

A roar silenced the boy. 'Quiet! I am Hooktail, the greatest and most majestic of all dragons!' She narrowed her eye. 'I just realized...' Hooktail said. 'I have not had a meal in a number of years!' She licked her lips. 'You and your sleeping companion will have the honour of being my first snack, before I escape this building and feast on the land!'

Fawful immediately reached for his blaster but was batted aside like a fly by Hooktail's huge hand. The stone floor came up at him and he landed on his back, rolling uncontrollably, his blaster clattering away from him. He came to a stop, trying to regain his senses and rearrange his swirled glasses.

'I'll save you for last,' the dragon puffed, smoke curling from her nostrils. 'I've never had the privilege of a Beanian meal.' She set her sights on the human girl lying unconscious. 'The girl will be easy pickings!'

The Bean grit his gigantic teeth and ran at full tilt, heart pounding in his chest as Hooktail loomed over his friend. Seeing no other way out, he took his storage cube off of his belt and whipped it through the air. It collided with Hooktail's eye and flashed brightly, releasing some mechanical parts. The dragon shouted in pain, clawed hand struggling to ease its eye.

Fawful picked up the fallen objects, hooked the cube back onto his belt, and grabbed Rose, hoisting her over his shoulder and groaning under the added weight. 'Haack...' he groaned. 'H-heavy...' He scampered away from the huge beast and plucked his blaster off the ground.

'You'll pay for that!' the reptilian monster screamed, her loud voice making the room shake. She sucked in some air and breathed out a huge plume of red hot fire. Fawful leaped to his left, the flames barely missing him, his legs wobbling. 'Bah!' she spat. 'I am out of practice!' She sucked in more air.

The Bean blasted right in the inside of her mouth. Eyes wide, Hooktail threw her head back and howled in agony, releasing a jet of flame up to the unseen upper floor. 'You will not h-have the breathing of anym-more f...f..._fire!_' he sputtered, his muscles complaining. He shot at her again, and the blast struck her in the snout. All it did was made her sniff loudly.

'Hah!' she laughed. 'I am invincible! You can't so much as scratch me like that!'

Fawful's jaw dropped. 'But...!' He wracked his mind; he remembered reading about a dragon with a ludicrously tough body. It had some sort of weakness though, what was it...something about crickets? ..._where am I going to have_ _the finding of crickets?_ he thought with alarm.

The ground shook as the colossus advanced upon them. 'Maybe,' it mused, 'if you hand over the girl I'll spare your life. She'll do for a light snack.' The boy, hurting now, shook his head. 'Oh well. This is more enjoyable anyway!' Fawful noticed that he was at the foot of the spiralling stairs going up the room. The only way away from Hooktail was up! He started making his way up the stairs. 'Oh you're kidding me,' she huffed irritably, and brought a scaled fist at them. Fawful fell forward, the fist smashing the wall above them. He aimed his blaster and shot at her eye; it hit just under, but that was enough to startle the dragon even if it didn't injure.

He couldn't carry Rose anymore, so he let her down on the steps and started running up the stairs. He heard his feet stomping loudly on the stone steps and then deliberately pounded them down harder. 'I have hilarity!' he yelled, and gave a forced laugh. 'A dragon has fear of a tiny Bean!'

'I DO NOT FEAR YOU!' she roared, and breathed in. Fawful stopped and prepared to shoot her in the mouth again, but before he could aim right Hooktail spat out a quick ball of flame that hit him head on. Burning, searing pain shot all around his body; flames lit up his clothes, licking at his skin. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees on the steps, the stone scraping them. He gripped his body, fighting back a yell. Hooktail laughed, a growling, chuckling sound. 'This is too easy! You thought you could beat me?' She smacked him against the wall with her palm and Fawful's world spun when his head hit against the wall. 'You're like an ant to me!'

The fire went out, but it had already done its damage; his entire body was in anguish and he was sure something was broken but he didn't know what. His glasses were badly cracked and his clothes were torn and burnt. He struggled to his feet and began trudging up the steps. 'Must...not have...death...' he croaked.

'I've had enough,' Hooktail sighed. 'You've been boring prey.' Her mouth opened wide but Fawful didn't have the strength to shoot at her.

A blast rang through the air and struck the dragon harmlessly in the back of the head. Nonetheless, she whipped her head around to look upon Rose, who held her blaster in both hands and was visibly more terrified than Fawful could ever be. 'L...l...leave...go...' She was tripping over her own tongue. She slammed her eyes shut and wildly pulled the trigger again and again, peppering Hooktail with a barrage of attacks which couldn't have hurt more than a light flick.

'Fool!' the monster shouted. Fawful was worried, but just kept climbing the steps. 'I'll gulp you down whole! I _will you stop shooting me?_' She lifted up a large claw and brought it down; Rose ran for her life and was nearly flung off her feet from the impact. Then as Hooktail began to move her hand again, the human girl leapt onto it. 'You pest!' Hooktail shoot her hand; Rose let go of her blaster and maintained a death grip on the claw, screaming for dear life.

The Bean gulped down a Mushroom. It wasn't the most effective of health items, but it served its purpose; his wounds healed slightly. Still running up the steps, he blasted the beast, making her head twitch in annoyance. She spun herself around and Rose went flying off of her hand and onto Fawful, cushioning her landing. 'Ungh...' the Bean groaned.

'Sorry!' the girl apologized, rubbing a bruise on her head.

The boy's eyes widened and he grabbed Rose; they dodged another burst of fire and Fawful shot at the dragon's eye again; this time it hit its mark and Hooktail recoiled back, hand smacked against her face. '_YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!_' she cried in rage.

Fawful and Rose were now above where Hooktail could reach them, but the stairs kept on going. 'Is that thing going to follow us?' the girl asked fearfully.

'I am hoping that it cannot!' the boy answered.

A flap of air sounded and Hooktail smashed into the wall below them, her small wings propelling her upwards, smacking her claws onto the stairs in front of them and tearing off a part of the stone. Fawful ran and jumped across, with Rose following suit.

They emerged in a nearly empty room, arcing up to a visible ceiling at the top. There was a magnificent, jewelled structure hanging from the middle of the ceiling, pointing downwards and glittering in the temple's magical light. 'Whoa', Rose gasped. 'It's gorgeous!'

Hooktail exploded through the middle of the floor, fire shooting upwards and bathing the structure in flames. '_I WILL HAVE MY MEAL!_' she roared. Rose peppered her with more shots which bounced harmlessly off of her like water droplets. It was no use; Hooktail's weakness was likely crickets, but there was no way there would be any in here. They could never kill her.

The dragon roared in fury, fire exploding upwards as she struggled to get the rest of her body into the room. Eying the structure above them, Fawful snatched the blaster from Rose, turned the power to full, and shot the part connected to the ceiling.

The structure fell, point-first, directly down into Hooktail's gullet. A suffocated growl escaped her mouth before she went tumbling down, tearing the floor away. Fawful and Rose tried running to the edge, but found themselves in open air, falling as well.

The dragon hit the first floor and it too gave way under its weight. Plummeting into darkness, there was a loud booming sound and a rush of air. Fire and light exploded from underneath them, engulfing them. Fawful felt himself slipping away, losing feeling in his body. He couldn't see anything in front of himself; Rose had disappeared from his view and his hearing.

For a moment, everything was white.

He opened his eyes and found himself on the floor, looking up at the night sky. The stars sparkled like diamonds and the air was a rich, wispy blue. The stones underneath him were clear like glass, reflecting the spectacle around him. His blasters lay on his lap, as well as everything he had left lying around during their bout with Hooktail.

He moaned, sitting up and rubbing his sores. He started putting his items away. 'I have...confusion...'

A similar groan alerted him to Rose's presence beside him. 'Ugh...what happened...?' she said, hurt.

'I think we...had winning?' He stood up; there were no walls or ceiling, only the floor beneath their feet. He looked over the edge and gasped when he found they were on top of a large tower. He couldn't see the ground; the sky seemed to wrap all around them.

Rose hugged the edge, looking down. 'Where are we?' she asked. Fawful didn't know. 'Do you think this is on top of the temple? It didn't look like it had a tower at all.'

'It also had biggerness on the side of in than the side of out,' he noted.

The girl took a moment to decipher the Engrish. 'I have no idea why you speak like that...' she muttered to herself. 'I guess we can't really make rational sense of this...'

There was a fountain in the middle of the floor that issued a never-ending stream of glistening liquid. Above the fountain, a large, pulsating light shone. They went over to the water and felt it; it made Fawful's hands tingle, making them cold and hot at the same time. He looked at Rose for a moment, then hopped in. His entire body felt...perfect. Nothing was wrong with it. There were no irritations, no pains, no discomfort. It tingled with a feeling he had never experienced in his entire life. He surfaced and breathed in the air, laughing. 'This has amazingness!' he exclaimed, his heart light and bubbly. 'Hahahaha!'

Rose followed suit; submerged for a moment, then surfaced. She stared at her hands, her mouth hanging slightly open in amazement. 'This is incredible...' she whispered. Fawful saw Rose in the light of the water, her white hair shining, her pale skin glowing. A smile spread across her face and she ran her hands through her hair. 'I've never known something like...' Her voice trailed off and her smile disappeared.

She looked at him. For a moment, they just stared at each other, her red eyes and Fawful's blue.

And then she smiled and that face lit up like a star.

Fawful hopped out of the fountain a little too quickly; he tripped over the side, almost falling onto his face. He caught himself and staggered out, smacking his palms against his burning face. He took off his glasses to dry them and noticed that they were neither wet nor broken anymore. His entire body was dry and healed. Even his clothes were free of burns and tears.

Rose came out of the fountain too and was similarly surprised to find herself dry. 'Um...' she muttered. She turned her gaze to the orb above the fountain. 'This place is amazing...' she said.

'I...' Fawful cleared his throat, looking away from Rose. 'The goal that is ours is to have the locating of the Purity Heart, which has oppositeness to the Chaos Heart that is making Dimentio have power.'

Rose nodded. 'You said Dimentio created the world. Was it with the Chaos Heart?' Fawful gave an affirmative. 'Then...maybe this is what it looks like when the Purity Heart makes a world without anyone's control.' She looked around. 'It's just so beautiful...' Fawful kept his eyes on the orb. It glowed with a light and positive power and seemed to beckon to them. He walked back up to the fountain and climbed to its top. 'What're you doing Fawful?' the girl asked.

He didn't answer. Extending his arms out, he touched the orb; it was warm. It reminded him of love. Cackletta. Mimi. 'Rose,' he called. 'Have coming here.' She walked over and climbed to the top. Without a word, she touched the orb, no doubt remembering people she loved from her past life.

They reached into the light, their hearts full. They could feel the Purity Heart somewhere in there. It was calling to them.

They floated into it, and a flash of light shot up into the otherworldly sky.


	12. Chapter 12: Old Wounds

Chapter 12: Old Wounds

Dimentio

The king of the perfect world tore through the sky in an absolute frenzy, towards the pillar of bright light that had risen up into the sky above. Fawful was there, he knew it, and possibly even those two conspirators as well. He needed to find them and snuff out their lives as quickly as possible. There could be no lollygagging.

A link to the Purity Heart. A way to remove his invincibility. A way to kill him. To wrench from his grasp the world he had worked so hard for.

It made his blood boil in his veins just by thinking of it.

_'Dimentio.'_ The Chaos Heart prodded his mind with urgency. _'You're going too close. Dimentio!' _The magician couldn't hear the contents of his own mind; he was in too much of a panic to care. _'Dimentio you abhorrent rat! __**Listen to what I'm saying! You're going too close to the—**__'_

A shockwave sent a ripple across the sky and washed over the king like a tidal wave; his breath caught in his throat and pain burned throughout his body. A massive influx of pure, good energy permeated him, eating away at the dark energy in his body. The Chaos Heart shrieked, its agonizing, high-pitched wail of utter suffering battering the walls of his psyche.

For a moment, he was reminded of all the things he had left behind in the old worlds. His family, Rosabella, Mimi, Blumiere and his subordinates. Even his memories of working with Fawful, arguably his worst nemesis thus far, filled him with a nostalgia and happiness he felt he wanted to hold onto.

And then the shockwave passed, the rippling in the sky stopped, and the feeling of gladness passed as quickly as it had come.

He realized he was lying on the ground, listening to the wails of the Chaos Heart die down, panting, his heart throbbing with a forlorn longing. Dimentio sat up on his knees, clutching at his chest with his hands. They all ran through his mind: his mother, his father, his brothers. Rosabella. Mimi. Blumiere. O'Chunks. Nastasia. Fawful. Somewhere inside of him was a shadow of loss, of a life that could never be.

Anger welled up in him. How could he feel any of that? They were his enemies, his foes! He hated them! He was glad they were dead! He screamed in rage, fingers tugging at his black and white hair. Sick, black hatred wracked his body with shudders. He threw dark energy into the sky, as if it would somehow wound the Purity Heart and everything it stood for. He was an agent of destruction. The only thing he loved was his perfect world and everything in it.

Everything else would burn to the ground.

He shot off again towards the quickly-fading light, more than ready to tear the Bean to pieces.

?

She ran into the room; the "king" was sitting on his throne again, face turned to the ceiling in excitement. He gripped the sides of the huge chair tightly, knuckles white. 'It's happened again,' he said, his voice quivering with barely-contained delight. 'The sky is shimmering again, isn't it? I can feel it.'

The girl was short of breath; the sky had indeed shimmered just like before, bringing with it a small wave of the Purity Heart's distinctive power. 'Yes,' she replied, trying to regain herself. She had run here as fast as she could, the phenomenon giving her a sudden sense of urgency, as if it had energized her body. 'Yes, the sky is shimmering. The people—'

'They did it, didn't they?' the man cut in. 'Whatever it was that was in the temple, they used it.'

'I...I assume so yes,' the woman answered. 'But your people outside are—'

'This is wonderful!' he cried, a wide smile across his face. 'We have struck a blow, like a vertically-challenged boxer to a legally obligated heavyweight champion in the title match!' He paused, then giggled. 'Hee hee. I _like_ those.'

She frowned, feeling an unpleasant sensation in the pit of her chest. Watching him talk like that, behave like that, made her feel sick. It was so disturbing, so unfitting, and so _wrong_. 'Stop doing that,' she demanded.

He suddenly eyed her unpleasantly. 'Stop _what?_' he asked venomously, eyes narrowing.

'The similes. I don't like them.'

The man snorted. 'I think, as king, I am entitled to do whatever I please.'

'You're not a king!' the girl snapped angrily. 'You're not even royalty! It's in neither your blood nor your actions, so stop acting like such a foo—_gurk!_'

The air ceased moving in and out of her lungs and she gasped like a fish out of water when, without warning, he appeared in front of her, gripped her by the throat, and lifted the both of them up into the air. Their feet hung above ground, his magic keeping them both afloat. 'You,' he said quietly, 'are such a _hypocrite_.' He squeezed her neck tightly, earning a strangled wheeze from the girl. 'You pretend you're such a _noble being_, forever working for the good of all. Ah ha ha ha. "Oh dearest me, I need to stop Dimentio! This is all, so, wrong!"' He shook her slightly, watching as the blood in her face was draining, her skin paling. 'Tell me, girl, what is your real motivation? You challenge my authority when it is I who lead my people. You try to refute my power when I am the one who taught you how to use yours. You are so convinced you're better than I am. Higher. More _royal_. If so, why not stop Dimentio on your own? Command the humans of this world and destroy that _jester_ yourself.' He stressed the word "jester", and in the tone he used it had a derogatory feeling to it. 'Grambi above, if you can do that I'll name you High Queen and wait on you hand and foot! Is that what you want? To be the royal you've so insultingly challenged in me? To attain the power you believe it to be your _birthright_ to have?' His eyes darted up and down, inspecting her, his fingers tensing and loosening around her throat.

Their eyes stared into each other's; in his heterochromic eyes she saw a conflicted mix of hatred and sadness and suddenly she was reminded of the same gaze she had seen millennia ago, tainted with the evil power of that dark book. 'I...I-I'm...' she choked. She wanted to apologize for his pain and loss. She wanted to do anything to make him happy so that she didn't need to see that terrible, painful gaze again.

'You're so weak,' the boy said, and let go of her throat. She lay on the stone floor, curled in the fetal position, gasping in sweet, live-giving breaths of air. 'I am king,' he said. 'I am king of the denizens of this land. They bow to me.' Even though she was taller than him ordinarily, from this angle he towered over her helpless form. 'I will defeat Dimentio. I will tear this world asunder. All will be as it was.'

'Why?' she panted, feeling her face colouring again. 'Why do you oppose him?' She thought she knew what it was before, but now she wasn't sure. He was so sinister, so malevolent in his own rights that it was as if she were taking to that dreaded, dark magician himself. Why was he against him, then?

He stared down at her, the hatred and sadness ever present. There was something behind them, however, that made her feel like it wasn't entirely directed at her anymore. When he answered, his voice was low and pained.

'People died.'

Her superior had allowed her to be transported near the temple that Fawful and Rose had gone into in order to check up on them. She knew they had accomplished something, but what it was they had done, exactly, neither of them were sure. Whatever it was, the Purity Heart had reacted to it. Somewhere out there, the Chaos Heart's bane lay, waiting to be discovered.

She had the impression she was in the wrong spot. The temple wasn't here. Not a single building stood, for that matter. Nothing tangible signified the former location of the temple, save a large circle of dirt amidst grass, and a hopeful energy in the air.

_Everything's gone..._ she thought to herself. _I know it was here. Where'd it go?_

She waved a hand through the air; it tingled slightly. Above her, at what looked like the very edge of the sky, was a glowing remnant of some sort of light flash. She flexed her fingers; light shone at the tips. The world was so full of the darkness of the Chaos Heart that for her it was easy to use the opposite that was hidden behind it. She just pushed away the Void's being, exposing the light underneath. To think the world's stability depended on a lack of love.

Dimentio's world depended on a lack of love. The thought made her incredibly sad.

'Oh Dimentio...' she whispered to herself. 'What happened to you?'

'I could ask you the same question.' She froze; despite the harsh venom tingeing it, she knew the voice well. 'You're not of this world, are you?' It sounded like he was trying to hold himself together, lest he crack. 'I can see your skin and hair are light. You're a human.' She didn't speak. She knew what awaited her if she did. 'I destroyed all worlds,' he continued, and with a start she realized he was closing the distance between her without making noise. She had no sound cues to judge his distance from her by. Her skin crawled; he could be right behind her at this very moment. 'How can you be here? Your soul was destroyed.' She couldn't form words; she had never been so terrified in her life. She remembered how she died; that horrifying, insane face, grinning, smiling as he stared into her dying eyes. His face. His smile. His complete and utter madness. '_IGNORANT WOMAN!_' he suddenly roared with an intensity she wasn't expecting; she jumped in fright. '_YOU WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!_'

'I was revived!' she squeaked.

'_BY WHOM?_'

'I can't tell you!'

He suddenly went silent for a moment. 'Your voice sounds..._chillingly _familiar,' he hissed. She could hear impossibly soft steps on the ground as he moved slowly towards her. 'Like a certain someone I know. A certain someone I've met again only recently. A certain someone who is quite, the bothersome, interloper.' The girl's heart pounded as he put a hand on her head. 'So let's see if you are who I think you are.'

He forced her to turn around and look him in the eyes. It was the first time she had gotten a good look at him and she was appalled to see what he had become; his skin was the dark blue she remembered, telltale of denizens of this world, but his face was deformed and his teeth were misshapen and sharp with no discernible pattern. His grey and red — not yellow, to her surprise — stared right into her soul with a murderous intensity she had only seen in war criminals and the mentally deranged. She remembered that Dimentio was likely both of them.

This was not her childhood friend anymore.

Then, against all expectations, Dimentio smiled broadly, his sharp teeth glinting in the strange air. 'So it is you after all. Ah ha ha ha. I was wondering if perhaps I'd gone insane.' He lifted his hand from her head and fingered her hair with his thumb and middle finger. '_Yesss_, it has been a long time hasn't it? I see time has not taken a toll on your beauty.'

She cleared her throat. 'I died,' she said flatly, trying to hide her fear.

'So you did,' he said matter-of-factly, and then punched her in the face with such force she careened across the entirety of the huge dirt area and rolled onto grass. Her nose had been smashed in, pain throbbing and pulsing throughout her face; she suspected it was broken, but to what extent her abilities shielded her from damage she didn't know. Her jaw was likely cracked and her cheekbones hurt as well. She hadn't felt this kind of pain...ever. Hands clutching her face, she curled up away from her assailant, absolute terror seizing her body and holding it still.

She didn't want to die again. Dying was one of the worst experiences she'd ever had.

'Oh how I _missed you!_' Dimentio exclaimed with faux nostalgia. 'Like an old man meeting his former sweetheart at his high school reunion!'

'_You're a monster!_' she screamed at him. '_An absolute monster!_'

'Oh, but I beg to differ!' the new king replied. 'Look around you! Do you not see the sky? The sun? The stars? What of the earthly realm? The grass, the trees, or the flowers? Or the animals?'

'The animals are spawn of the Underwhere!' the girl cried. 'They're horrible creatures!'

She yelled in pain when Dimentio kicked her along the ground. 'They are creatures no different from those that inhabited other dimensions. Oh, but you wouldn't know of other dimensions now would you?'

'He told me,' she gasped, crying, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

'Ah, we come back to this mysterious man you're working under. How fitting, by the way, that a person of your ilk should be lowered to the level you deserve.' He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up. 'Tsk tsk tsk,' he lamented falsely at her broken face. 'Your poor, pretty face. How ugly it now is.'

'I hate you!' she screamed at him.

'Ah, but I love you, you horrid, wonderful girl. You showed me the way. Revealed to me the darkness inherent in people's hearts. Even those whom you trust hide the blackest, ugliest blotches that lie in wait, ready to maim, torture, and murder the hearts of others.' He ran a hand across her cheek and she wanted nothing more than to bite a finger off. 'You pushed me into the light. Screaming in agony, I stumbled and fell. But when I picked myself up off the ground, all had changed for the better. The perfect world. A place free of discrimination and hatred. All thanks to you.' He brought his other hand up, which hummed and glowed with magical power. Memories of her death flashed through her mind.

'No!' she cried. 'Don't do it again!'

'Oh yes,' he whispered into her ear. When he spoke the next three words it was with the worst loathing she had ever heard in her entire existence. _'My dearest Rosabella_.'

Without warning she flung out her hand and tried to strike at his face; instead of hitting it, she was thrown backwards and out of his grip by the barrier created by the Chaos Heart to protect him. 'I won't let you kill me!' she shouted.

'_HAH!_' the boy spat. 'Your weakness is only matched by your ignorance!' A black orb of energy appeared in his hand. 'I'll turn you into a smear on the ground!' He threw it at her, and she whipped her hands up; the orb flew up into the air, exploding into a dark shower of particles. '_WHAT?_' he exclaimed, unmatched eyes wide with surprise. He threw another and she sent it flying to the right. He threw one more and she flung her hands out in front of her; the ball went right back in the direction it had come from, smashing into Dimentio's shield and making him stagger backwards from the impact anyway. 'That's impossible!'

She might not have been able to hurt him, but she wasn't a being of the Void. She was like a beacon of light in the middle of pitch darkness. Physical assaults would be her demise, though. She needed to leave, and fast. 'We'll win!' she said, covering her face. 'What you're doing is wrong. What you've_ done_ is wrong. And you're going to pay for it dearly.'

The dark magician snarled in rage and flew at her. She cried out, fell backwards, and disappeared from the scene.

She ceased to be. Her being sifted through the formless makeup of the world. For a moment, in a simple movement of dimensional space, she was the world.

And then she reappeared, stumbling, spraying blood from her face on the ground around her. She collapsed, moaning in agony, trying to wipe the scarlet liquid off her hands to no avail. Her dress was stained and bloody and she had begun to bruise.

'Ooooouh...' she groaned. 'Somebody help me...'

As if on cue, a _ping!_ sounded. 'Rosabella!' shouted a man with alarm. It was her superior, the fake king. 'What in the name of Jaydes happened to you? I felt your presence and—'

'I ran into _him_,' she explained, showing her face.

'Ah...' He winced at the sight. He took off the kingly cape he was wearing and crouched down. 'Oh, first...' He reached into a pocket and took out a very, very strange-looking blue thing.

'What's _that?_' she asked incredulously.

'It's a kind of Mushroom,' he answered.

'It has _eyes!_'

'It's peculiar isn't it? I found them growing a ways away from the castle town. Apparently Fawful's influence did a little more than simply make the temple appear.' He grinned. 'They have healing properties. Eat it!'

Tentatively, she ate it. It was delicious; it had almost a rubbery quality to its skin, yet on the inside it was soft and full of juice. To her surprise, she already began to feel a little better. Her wounds hurt less. The man took out a few more of the things and she ate them without hesitation. While she was chewing, he started wiping the blood off her face with his cape. 'What a dilemma,' he chuckled. 'Already having a tussle with him.'

'It wasn't my plan,' she mumbled through the cape, which was getting more and more ruined with every splash of blood being wiped up.

'You need to be more careful,' the man warned her in a tone that was almost angry. 'If you die, it all could be over. You're my eyes and ears.'

'You should be more respectful to me then. OW!' He had jabbed her in the still-very-painful nose.

'I am the king,' he reminded her, his voice taking on a darker tone. 'You are the subordinate. You will treat me as such or I will have to punish you. And believe me when I say, I would rather enjoy that.'

Her heart sank. 'Dimentio...' she murmured.

The man looked at her for a moment as if expecting something, then returned to the wiping. 'Don't be dejected because of him. He only represents the worst of your childhood friend.'

'It's still there, though.'

He didn't speak for a while. When he finally did, all the blood was gone. 'Yes. It's still there.' The two of them stood up. 'Back?' he asked her curtly. His compassion seemed gone.

'No,' she replied. 'I think I need to be here.'

'Very well. I will leave you to your own devices for now.' He disappeared before she could wish him farewell.

Former Princess Rosabella looked at the spot where he had been standing just moments before. He couldn't stand her, she knew. She represented everything that had made tormented him throughout his entire life. Even if they were both working together in the fight against Dimentio and his fake world, it was a partnership that only existed out of necessity. Why bother with the extra treatment then, she wondered? Why wipe the blood off of her face with his own cape?

She remembered his answer to her question. "People died." She knew what that told about him. Everything from his tone to the way he had formed the words. He felt the loss of every being that had been wiped out, and it rested in him in a way she couldn't understand. There was goodness in him. A desire to make things right. Even if he hated her, there was a level of kindness that he couldn't help but give. Thinking about it, it made sense.

She smiled and remembered what Dimentio had been like before everything had changed him. Maybe someday they could be friends again. She'd like that, she thought.

She dusted herself off and started exploring the area. Somewhere near here were Fawful and Rose. She dreaded thinking about how they were doing without her guidance.


	13. Chapter 13: Ascend

Chapter 13: Ascend

Fawful

He didn't want to get up. He felt too much at peace. It was like he was still sitting in that enchanted fountain in the Purity Heart's little world. He knew that if he got up and started moving again his body would remember that it was in the real world and that feeling would be gone.

Suddenly he heard a slapping sound and pain struck his cheek. His eyes snapped open and he recoiled from the impatient face of Rose. 'Waugh!' he shouted in surprise, floundering about on the ground. 'I have pain!'

'I've been up for at least ten minutes,' she sighed. 'You're so lazy!'

Fawful got up; it wasn't difficult now that he'd been rudely pulled into the world again. 'Does it have so much unreasonableness that I would have enjoyment sleeping for five more minutes?' he huffed irritably.

While he spoke he examined the surroundings. They were on a mountain trail; rocky crags climbed upwards to the sky above and fell downwards to the ground below. Dust swirled about in the air, which smelled of stone and, faintly, some sort of plant. They were enclosed by stone where they stood, so he was unable to determine if they were at ground level or higher up. The clouds swirled high above them, caking the sky with grey. He was reminded of Hoohoo Mountain back in the Beanbean Kingdom, though there was a definite lack of Beanies, something that he both liked and disliked.

He returned to the topic at hand. 'Fawful has never had such peace before!'

'Neither have I,' the girl responded unsympathetically. 'Except when I died and was allowed to go to the Overthere and become a Nimbi.'

'Pff,' the Bean snorted. 'At least you had allowance to become a Nimbi.'

Rose looked at Fawful, surprised. 'You were stuck in the Underwhere?'

He put on a thoughtful look. 'Actually...' he muttered. 'Fawful had escaping from the Underwhere before he had judging by Jaydes, so...'

'You..._escaped_ from the...?' Rose's eyes were so wide Fawful thought they would fall out. 'Who in the world _are_ you?'

There was a pause. Then, the boy grinned widely, causing the girl to lean back out of nervousness. 'I am Lord Fawful,' he answered, handing her his spare blaster again. 'And I will have the destroying of this world of lies.'

Rose's red eyes scanned him. '"Lord" Fawful,' she said, smiling slightly. 'But you're so young.'

The Bean snorted and waved his hand dismissively. 'I have intelligence like a hundred people have intelligence!' he beamed. 'Do not have dismissing of Lord Fawful because he is being young!'

With that he smacked her lightly on the back of the head and started walking, grinning at Rose's retorts.

_'You two are adorable, did you know that?'_

They both stopped; Fawful reached for his blaster while Rose tightened her grip on hers. 'What fink-rat has the taunting of us?' he spat aloud.

_'I'm not taunting you,'_ the voice answered. _'I thought you'd remember me. I've helped you already!'_

'Oh, you're _her!_' Rose realized.

_'That's right, I helped you find the temple. What was in there, by the way?'_

'We do not have knowledge,' Fawful answered. 'We had pain from zombies and a dragon of chubbiness and then there was a fountain of healing and a light of brightness and...' He trailed off. 'I have confusion,' he concluded, making a tired motion with his arms.

_'Whatever you did, we could feel the Purity Heart's power,'_ their guide informed them. _'You did __**something**__ at least.'_

The boy's face brightened. 'We have progress?' he exclaimed excitedly.

'That's wonderful!' Rose chipped in.

_'Oh...oh no...'_

The two young adventurers exchanged worried glances. 'Um...' the girl said nervously. 'What was that about...?'

_'I think I...attracted some unwanted attention,'_ was the answer. _'You see—'_

Fawful saw something in the sky; he couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was definitely bigger than a bird or other animal. He squinted and was perplexed; it almost looked like a person.

Wait.

_'You see, before coming here I ran into Dimentio. He wounded me and I fled to here via dimensional teleportation. My partner found me and healed me, but I think Dimentio was able to find me the same way he did.'_

Oh _no_.

'Rose!' he barked in a hushed tone. He grabbed her and pressed against a wall; from the angle he was at he shouldn't be able to see them.

'Are you telling me,' his companion whispered fearfully, 'that Dimentio's near us right now?'

_'Yes, probably.'_

Fawful's heart was pounding. They were in absolutely massive trouble. Not only was the magician ridiculously powerful, possessing the entirety of the Chaos Heart, but he was completely invincible. There was no way to harm him, and every way to harm them. The Bean didn't know where they were on the mountain, but with Dimentio skulking around it didn't matter. If he saw them, they were done for.

_'Just remember, I'm in the area. I don't know where you are, but I'm here.' _Even though he figured she couldn't really help them if they were found, that made Fawful feel a bit better.

The shape in the sky that he knew was Dimentio hovered for a few moments, obviously searching; he was afraid that the magician would see them. 'I'm scared...' Rose whispered. He wondered if she knew who Dimentio really was and if he was the one who killed her.

He gripped her arm. 'I will have protection of you,' he muttered firmly.

'He's invincible,' she reminded him with a shaky voice, curling up tightly.

'...I will have protection of you,' he stated again. He didn't care if their enemy was completely immune to damage; he wasn't getting to Rose.

_'I can't see him where I am. What does he look like he's doing?'_

Dimentio seemed to stop moving; Fawful couldn't get a good enough look at him to figure out where he was staring. Then, to his relief, he flew away. 'He had leaving,' the Bean said.

The white girl relaxed. 'My god,' she breathed, collapsing on the ground. 'I thought I was going to explode...' Fawful felt something similar, yet also different; the sight of his enemy actively hunting him made him both scared and invigorated. They'd struck a blow, somehow, with whatever they'd done.

The Bean peered out from their hiding spot and looked out away from the mountain; flat, rocky ground stretched on, giving way to some smaller, more mountainous terrain. It seemed like the mountain they were on, however, was smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. They were alone. For some reason though, Fawful felt far from isolated. He let his gaze travel downwards; they were barely even up the start of the mountain. It would be easy to slide down the side and end up on the ground completely unscathed. He turned around and looked up; the mountain stretched quite high in comparison; if Hoohoo Mountain was any comparison, it's peak wouldn't be too far above the clouds. They had a lot of climbing to do. The Bean scowled; just what he needed, more exertion. He walked back to the alcove.

'How far up are we?' the girl asked him.

He shook his head. 'Not far of much,' he answered.

_'Dimentio's near me...'_ their guide breathed in their heads.

'Don't be afraid,' the white girl whispered. He didn't know why she did it, it wasn't like Dimentio could hear them or anything.

_'He's gone away now...'_ Despite the exhilaration, the Bean was still nervous. If Dimentio killed whoever it was that was guiding them, it may be a problem. He wondered for the umpteenth time who she was.

'Welling,' he declared. 'We should have climbing now.'

'I'm not really good at climbing...' the girl muttered. Fawful gave her a poke in the shoulder with his knuckles, then motioned to her to come.

The ascent wasn't ridiculously steep at this level, but it was very uncomfortable and rocky. The Bean focussed on putting one leg in front of the other, which at this elevation wasn't strenuous.

Fawful hopped up onto a large rock, pulling himself over. He turned to Rose and helped her up, suddenly questioning why in the world their guide gave her a dress to wear while going on such a physically-demanding quest. He supposed if Peach could do it, so could Rose.

The wind whistled at their napes. He breathed in the air and coughed, covering his mouth with his hands. He looked at his black gloves, smeared with dirt and particles of dust; they were really dirty, and with something other than engine grease. He giggled to himself, and continued to climb.

_'I don't know if you know,'_ their guide said, _'but I've been climbing too. There are a lot of places in the mountain's side to keep shelter.'_

'That will have goodness when we are needing sleep,' the Bean noted.

Other than the occasional, short moment of dialogue between any two of the three of them, the climb was mostly silent. It was during these silent moments that it really hit Fawful just how much he hated climbing the stupid thing. At least before, when he'd walked for miles on end and his feet got sore from blisters or his stomach grumbled from hunger, there had been some sort of consolation involved. Beautiful scenery, the chance to view the world slowly and less malevolently than he was used to, or even simply multiple people to talk to. Here, on this silent climb, there was no one to be with, and everything that surrounded him was rocky and dirty and painful. Above him were the grey clouds, to the horizon were more mountainous regions. Worst of all, he knew at any moment Dimentio could blow them to atoms with his might, were they found.

That was the other thing he didn't like about it: the constant hiding. Always needing to find a relatively concealed place to be, moving in the shadows, then hiding like terrified mice when either of them so much as saw a fleeting glance of a dark shape in the sky out of their peripheral vision. Those terrifying, heart-stopping seconds that passed by every time, only to find out that it was merely a bird or a flag whipping in the wind. They had actually caught a flag one time, noticing that it had the same insignia of Dimentio's castle. That made them worried, because it meant that people had scaled the mountain at some point that weren't them.

They had found a number of those holes in the side of the mountain, either worn away by time or dug out by Dimentio's people, which they explored. Sometimes they were just small areas, barely big enough to fit them both, while other times they appeared to be small caves that went into the mountain itself. They didn't go too deep, however; the mountain's inner depths were a place they wanted to keep well enough away from.

They were done climbing for the day. The two of them hadn't made amazing progress, but it was something. They had found a somewhat large, hollowed out wall to rest in; not a cave, but it was spacious.

'My. Feet. Are. Killing. Me.' Rose gave the most pained groan he had ever heard in his life. Fawful's feet hurt too, though the girl definitely had shoes less suited for travelling. There was silence for a second.

_'OW!'_ blasted their guide's voice in Fawful's head, making him clutch his temples. _'No need to shout!'_

More silence.

_'Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do...'_

'...wha?' Fawful said, confused.

'I thought to her,' Rose answered, smiling. 'I figured it'd be easy to do.'

'About what?'

'Better, _ugh_, clothes!' She took off one of her shoes; her foot was red and cracked with blisters. 'I need better shoes that don't make me want to disembody my feet, and I need something to wear that isn't a stupid dress! Whoever the dummy was who made this for a girl _travelling up mountains_ is just...' She let out an exasperated puff of air. '...what?'

'...huh? Oh! Nothing,' the Bean answered absentmindedly. He'd been staring at her; he'd seen a bit of Mimi in her. He laid down on his side and sighed, rubbing his chest where the Chaos Heart's half-heart symbol had shown.

'So.' The girl sat down beside him. 'What'll happen after all this?'

The Bean shifted slightly. 'Hm...?'

'When Dimentio's dead, when we find the Purity Heart and win...what then?'

Fawful found that he had no idea what the answer to that question was. What _would_ happen? Would the Purity Heart fix everything? Would they need to live on this world? If that were the case, when Dimentio died, would _everyone_ die? Would he and Rose and anyone else they found be the only ones alive for the rest of time? 'I am not knowing.'

His glasses bobbed up and down on his face, pushed by the ground and the heaving of his own chest. There was so much uncertainty with all of this. At least before, when the Mushroom World was before him, behind him, and everywhere else, he knew what would happen once they killed Dimentio: he would die and Fawful would go back to doing...whatever it was he would do when not saving the world. At least his world was there. Now...

The girl laid on the ground, making tiny noises of discomfort as she got used to lying on a hard surface. 'I don't know what I'll do. I've been dead for...for Grambi knows how many years. Even just being in this body again is sometimes...disorienting.' She squirmed. 'Like I'm in someone else's body.'

'Fawful would not have knowledge of being a Shayde or Nimbi.'

'Why is that?'

He hesitated. 'I...had the tampering with darkness before my defeat of finality,' he explained. 'It had the dying for me, I am supposing.'

'Darkness...' He could practically feel her eyes boring into the back of his head. '_Lord_ Fawful,' she said slowly. 'What sort of person are you that you would call yourself a Lord?'

He didn't want to answer, but he supposed she had as much a right to his past as anybody. He sat up and looked straight into her deep, red eyes; even they, in their own way, were different than Mimi's. Then, he explained everything: his tutelage under Cackletta, her way of raising him, her plot to rule the world with the Beanstar, her demise at the hands of Mario and Luigi, his exile underneath Peach's Castle, his own plot to use the Dark Star to rule the Mushroom Kingdom, and his eventual death at the hands of the same duo who had destroyed his mistress. He told her of his revival by Dimentio, their efforts to get revenge on Mario and his allies, Dimentio's betrayal of him, his forced alliance with Mario, their deaths and deletions by the Void, and how the Purity Heart saved him from the same fate. He decided to leave out the more specific details, however; Mimi had gone completely unmentioned.

'Wow,' Rose said after digesting all of the information. 'You've been through a lot.' Fawful nodded an affirmative. 'I...really don't like what you've done before.'

'F...Fawful did not have the killing of anyone!'

'You _tried_ to!'

He buried his head in his hands. 'Weeeeeeeeh,' he moaned ashamedly. 'I hope you will not have the hating of me...'

'Why do you care? You're Loooord Fawful,' she replied, disappointment heavily laden in her voice.

'Because...' He made an exasperated noise. 'Because because!' he huffed.

She stared at him intensely for a long while, then got up and walked over to a wall far enough away from him. Clearing away the dust, she laid down with her head on her hands.

Fawful got up and moved as far into their hiding spot as he could and sat, cross-legged, facing the wall. He felt a mix of anger, sadness, disappointment, and shame. Rose hated him now. She knew who he was and she hated him. She could never work with a villain like him.

And why the Underwhere should he work with _her_ anyway? She was just a whiny, complaining, weak girl who needed hand-holding to do so much as shoot a blaster. She could never survive on her own, yet she judged him for doing what he was doing to succeed in the world? How _dare_ she?

He took out his storage cube and smacked it on the ground, going through the options and making all of his mechanical parts and items come out onto the ground. He had always been a bit of a hoarder when it came to machines; everything he needed was here in abundance.

He was full of fury. When he was full of fury, he built.

Princess Rosabella

The pink-haired princess crouched low, staring up at the black spot against the clouds above. Her former childhood friend floated high above her, surveying the mountain. She hoped to everything holy that he couldn't see her from where he was.

Dimentio floated away and she let her breath out. How she wished she didn't have to lie low and hide from him. If she could just confront him, reason with him, do _something_ to make him fix all this. Only Dimentio could fix all this.

Only Dimentio and the man whose command she was under, that was.

She wondered what he was planning. She hoped it was something that could help them. Something, anything, that could throw Dimentio off of their tails.

_'Dimentio's getting farther and farther away from us, you two,'_ she thought. _'But we still need to be careful. How're things on your end?'_

She waited; normally they took a moment to respond.

A moment passed and they didn't respond. _'Hello? Somebody let me know you're alive.'_

Nobody answered.

Worried, she extended her mind to find them and listen to any verbal communication going on. She found she was met with what was like a solid wall around their area. Confused, she pressed against it, but she couldn't hear anything. What was going on? She pushed harder, tightening her muscles from the effort.

A horrible thought occurred to her. Her "king" had once told her why she couldn't give her identity to them or communicate in person: they, like her, were Purity Heart beacons, able to use the contrasting energy of the Purity Heart amidst the Void's dark energy to do many things. The difference is that he had given her both practice as well as the ability to manipulate dimensions in order to fully utilize this. However, if they were blocking her out, it was possible they were beginning to exercise their power on her. This was not good. This was not good at all. If they really wanted to, they could find her. Then they could find out who she was working under. If that happened, she was sure they wouldn't be able to trust them. And, even worse...Dimentio himself could gain the information.

Once he knew, there was no way they could be safe.


	14. Chapter 14: Cohorts

Chapter 14: Cohorts

Dimentio

Dimentio had always loved mountains as a child. They were tall and powerful, and yet possessed a degree of grace and beauty that was unmatched by any other structure, be they natural or artificial. In his several millennia of life, his view of mountains' beauty had somewhat diminished; now he saw their strength, their deadliness, their heaven-piercing nature as a test to be conquered. To scale a mountain was one of the most incredible feats one could accomplish, and was a testament to bravery, determination, and possibly even a bit of stupidity.

To him, a man with the ability to take to the skies and to bend dimensions to his will, a mountain was easily conquered. What was once an impressive feat was child's play.

His trademark grin, made all the more frightening by the jagged, asymmetrical teeth in his mouth, let his pride out in the open. The distance he'd travelled in might over the years was something he loved remembering.

_'Such a portentous mind you have, Dimentio,'_ the Chaos Heart cooed. _'Perhaps you should consider who gave you your might? Or, even better, the possibility that the more you dwell on your power the more chances that Bean will have to evade you?'_

The magician surveyed the huge mountain, stretching up past the clouds that had formed overhead; in truth, he had wanted to find them, yes, but now that he was here he was distracted. There was something about this place that made his mind wander distractedly. That could have been why he had yet to see a hint of Fawful yet, though the amount of places on the mountainside that could hide him definitely helped.

And then there was Rosabella. That infuriating woman, so caught up in her own selfishness that she could not see the cruelty behind herself. He hated her. More than anything he hated her. Not only because of her heartlessness, but also...

She looked too much like Mimi.

_'Why do you continue to dwell on that girl? She is dead. Gone. Out of existence. A mere memory from the past.'_

_I wish I knew..._ he sighed in his mind. Memories of her had cropped up from time to time despite his efforts to banish them.

_'I suppose I could block off your love again. Then you would truly be of this world.'_

The thought gave him pause. That would prevent any future _accidents _from happening, definitely. And yet... _No,_ he ultimately decided. _No, the last thing I need when dealing with these people is being in constant pain. I will bear my heart's yearnings for the time being._

_'An intelligent choice. I thought perhaps you would decide to go against your emotions again.'_

The king sniffed the rocky air and floated to the right, his eyes surveying the mountain that his desires had created. Somewhere in the rocky face lay Fawful and Rosabella, doing _something_. They were attempting the ultimate test, scaling his mountain, for something. Somewhere, perhaps at the top, perhaps even inside the mountain, lay something. What it was, he didn't know. Something connected to the Purity Heart, in all likeliness.

_You are truly an enigma,_ Dimentio thought to his sentient artefact. _You are a force of evil, yet you encourage love in my heart._

_'Dimentio, Dimentio, Dimentio,'_ the Heart sighed. _'Love is toxic to me, yes. You can imagine how difficult it is, then, to hold it away from you. The pain you feel when you love is the residue from the effort I exert to keep in at bay. Besides...'_ There was a quiver of dark pride at the edge of Dimentio's consciousness. _'I am a harbinger of complete erasure. In the end, love is a mere pittance in comparison to the Void.'_

_You are not the first Chaos Heart to have been created. The first was deleted by the power of the Pure Hearts._

_'...'_

_Yes indeed, an earlier Chaos Heart was used by Blumiere to bring about the end of all worlds. It lacked sentience, unlike you, yet it had all your powers. It was removed from existence in the end, and all the Void's work was reversed. Do you not see the problem?_

_'I am more than that Chaos Heart,'_ Dimentio's companion responded, anger underlying its voice.

_I can feel your fear, you know,_ the mage continued. _It's so beautiful, like a vain fighter defeated by a vertically-challenged underdog. You call me arrogant and foolish, yet you are no better. A mere emotion brings you to your knees. I have heard you scream in pain at its influence._ The smile on Dimentio's face was back, his heart was leaping in his chest at the pleasure of putting the Chaos Heart in its place. _Don't pretend you're invincible. You're not. You had a beginning; I created you with my own blood, infused with the Dark Prognosticus' essence. If you are not careful, you will have an end. You may use words, but you are no different from your predecessor. You are an artefact of destruction, not a man, and I suggest you come to terms with that._

There was no response.

The hazy sky was beginning to darken; above the clouds, the stars would begin to twinkle and the moon would glow, hidden behind the mountain's hulking presence. His people would be going to sleep, hopefully finding respite from the fear of Fawful, the enemy of their god. Fawful would likely be going to sleep as well. There'd be no movement from him for the rest of the night, he imagined, and Dimentio was getting tired of scouring a mountain anyway. He teleported back to his castle.

He was in the courtyard. The castle was glowing; its torches, both on the outside as well as inside, shone like a lighthouse over the town. Past the castle gates he saw blue-skinned citizens walking the streets, sometimes carrying supplies, other times merely conversing with each other.

Dimentio warped onto a pillar near the gate and looked down at his people; men and women discussing the times, children clinging to their mothers' legs. He saw a few pets here and there too, walking obediently behind their owners or running excitedly and fraternizing with their fellows.

For a moment, the scene changed. The movements were the same, but the people were different; white skin, hair and eyes of many colours, bodies of every size and shape.

His old home.

His heart turned jagged and his smile faltered. 'Feh,' he spat, snapping his fingers and summoning an orb of light. 'Useless memories...' He moved the orb between his fingers, the light highlighting every crease and wrinkle of skin on his palm, bringing into stark clarity the ugliness of his pointed nails which were noticeable beneath his gloves. _Does my world please you, Chaos Heart?_ he thought to his artefact. _I don't believe I've ever asked you._ He didn't get a response. He sniffed and squeezed the small orb between his thumb and forefinger, watching it bend and shift like rubber. _What does a shining realm of perfection look like to a disembodied heart? Does the air taste like anything? Does the grass leave a pleasant scent to you? Do the smiling faces of my people make you feel any pride or satisfaction?_ The Heart was silent still.

A few people noticed him sitting on the gate and stopped to look. One teenage girl waved. Ever the showman, he grinned and waved back, the light moving with his hand. He stood up and snapped his fingers a few more times, a new orb of light appeared. They circled his body, moving up his skyward arm and into his palm, combining into a larger orb. He flicked his hand and it floated down in front of his audience. Wearily, the girl poked it with her finger, causing the light to pulse and bounce back a bit. She jumped, then laughed and flicked it. The magician waved his hand and the orb transformed into a little person. Moving his fingers like legs, he let the light being do a little dance on the head of a boy. Snapping again, the person popped and let a shower of little stars rain down.

They looked up at him expectantly, waiting for more. After a moment had passed with no activity, they turned and walked away, talking amongst themselves.

Dimentio frowned; he had expected clapping. _What a disappointing crowd, _he thought irritably.

_'They cannot love.'_ It was the first thing the Chaos Heart had said for a short while.

_I don't see the correlation between the two things,_ he responded.

_'Then perhaps you must try being a little more open-minded.'_ Dimentio wasn't going to dignify the Heart with a reply to that. _'You asked me what I thought of your world,'_ it said, bringing up the old remark.

_I am indeed quite curious as to what you think,_ the king told it. _Your power created it, after all._

_'Hm.'_ There was silence from the Heart. Dimentio saw that many people were going indoors, no doubt to rest after a long day. The mortal body could be quite a bother. _'It is typical.'_

His face contorted in displeasure. _"Typical?" Surely you jest?_

_'No. As the Void's bringer of destruction I saw the state of all worlds. All of their people, their animals, their sights and landscapes. I saw everything. This world, created from your mind, works just like most. The laws are identical. The people go about their motions just as others did. They get food and drink and company just like every other being in existence did. If you look in any world, you will find that the horizon looks just like this one's. It is nothing special.'_

Anger clutched Dimentio's throat; he bore his teeth like an animal. _"Nothing special?" Do you know how much work and time went into this realm? Do you know?_

_'Yes.'_

_You...!_ The magician hopped off of his pillar and stormed in through the front doors of the castle, snapping his fingers and closing them behind him. Torches flickered as he walked by, and people steered clear of their approaching god.

'Your Highness?' a guard asked. 'I've been trying to seek an audience with you!'

Dimentio snapped his fingers and the guard was nudged along by unseen forces. 'Then by all means, tell me whatever your heart desires.'

'Um...' the guard murmured awkwardly, trying to keep far enough away from the dimensional wall pushing against him. 'We've been continuing our search and found things likely slain by that Fawful character, but have yet to see him.'

'I have already located him, so you may call off your searches for him.'

'Oh? Does that mean you've determined the identity of his cohort?'

Dimentio stopped and the guard shouted as the wall continued to push him along ahead of the magician. Wearily, he snapped his fingers and the guard stopped moving forward, falling onto his back. 'I'm sorry, did you say "cohort?" I couldn't quite tell.'

'Erm...yes, cohort. There were signs of a second person with Fawful.' He picked himself off the ground.

Dimentio crossed his arms, face set in thought. He supposed the cohort could be Rosabella or that man, but then again he knew Rosabella had arrived after Fawful. She hadn't been at his side. The man would likely want to remain as far away from danger as possible...

Then who in the world was with Fawful? Everybody else was dead.

'Thank you,' the magician replied. 'That is incredibly important.' The man nodded, bowed respectfully, and walked away. _What do you think that means?_ he thought.

_'It seems to mean there is a person you have not accounted for following that green boy,'_ the Chaos Heart replied.

_I am aware, but who could they be? The Void destroyed all worlds, and all the worlds' inhabitants. No one is left._

_'That girl you despise is left.'_ That certainly made Dimentio hesitate. _'And that man too, whose identity we do not know. He is likely not of your make. Where could he have come from, other than from an older world?'_

Dimentio tapped his finger nervously; he was not liking what the Chaos Heart was implying. _The Void killed everyone,_ he thought firmly._ Their souls are gone._

_'Hmm. What about Cackletta, then?'_ the Heart suggested. _'I believe her soul was destroyed by those two strange men with the mustaches, yes? How could she have been brought back?'_

_I repaired her soul with your magic,_ the magician answered. _It was child's pl—_

His mouth dropped open. Every window in his immediate area shuddered; the torches rattled on the walls, their flames flickering erratically. People walking down the wallway stopped abruptly and looked around them, some tensing and attempting to shield themselves from an attack that did not come. A few more daring people stared at Dimentio worriedly. When the small commotion stopped, the people dispersed a little faster than normal to make sure they didn't get in the way of an angry, dimensional-warping god.

'You aren't seriously suggesting...!' the man said through gritted teeth.

_'This realm has spirits which haunt the night. Enough that the local populace has measures to keep them out of cities.'_

'So when we brought about the world with the Void...'

_'The souls were brought back together in the same manner? It would not surprise me.'_

There was a pause, the end of which was punctuated by Dimentio snarling a very vulgar word.

'Oh my.' Dimentio spun around; a middle-aged woman was looking at him. Her age had yet to detract from her beauty; her features were still as pronounced as they ever were. Her hair, black as usual, was cut short, barely below her ears. Lines of fatigue could be seen under her eyes, likely from sleepless nights providing for a family as a parent. 'It's been a while since I've heard someone say that word. I think it was my oldest boy.' She smiled.

'They can be...irritable, indeed,' he agreed hesitantly. He couldn't remember the last time anybody had spoken to him like she just did. It lacked the mix of fear and reverence that he had instilled to his subjects for many years. 'How many, uh, children do you have?'

'Six,' she answered brightly. 'Four boys and two girls.'

He blinked; for the first time in a very long time, he was making small talk. 'I...see.' He was at a loss as to what to say next. 'Do...are they good?'

The woman nodded happily. 'Oh yes!' she answered. 'Yes, they're all very helpful. My oldest, one of the girls, easily works twice as hard as everybody else. She's so strong.' There was a moment of silence which Dimentio found incredibly tense but which the woman seemed to drink up, perhaps on account of not getting enough silence in her life. He sighed and continued walking down the hall. The woman unexpectedly followed him, bright eyes hanging on his every movement. 'I noticed you were upset,' she told him. 'The walls shook and you looked very distressed.'

'I am a god,' he puffed indignantly. 'I never get distressed.'

'You're just like my younger daughter!' the woman giggled. 'Never wants to admit when she's in a bad mood!'

'I am _not_ in a bad mood,' the magician protested, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.

'Okay,' was her response. They walked in silence for a time. When Dimentio was about to open his mouth and ask her why she wouldn't leave him, she said, 'You must be wondering why I'm following you, your Highness.'

'That I am.'

'I noticed that you've been wearing the same clothes ever since you arrived in this castle.' Dimentio directed his gaze downward and indeed noticed he had been wearing the curled shoes, poofy pants, and light shirt that he had always warn under his jester poncho. He'd gotten so used to wearing it that he hadn't thought to change.

'I happen to like these clothes,' he said.

'Oh yes, they're very nice clothes,' she agreed. 'They look like a court jester's. I thought it was an interesting choice of attire for a king, however.' He couldn't argue with that.

'What are you suggesting?'

'I was wondering if, perhaps, I could help make something new? More fitting for someone of your grand, magnificent nature.' She was beaming incredibly hard now. 'Of course, I couldn't do it alone, but I could at least get the necessary measurements and then find some help.'

That brought a lopsided grin to Dimentio's face. 'Why, that sounds like a _magical_ idea.'

Moments later, they had retired elsewhere and the woman was getting out some various things. 'You have no idea how exciting this is!' she bubbled.

'I'm sure I don't,' he replied, amused. He poked his face idly with one sharp nail, sighing with shame as he traced the disgusting, uneven shapes on his cheek. The woman came over to him with a measuring device and instructed him to remove his shirt, which he did. 'Garb fit for a true king,' he mused. 'Unfortunately it would clash with my hideousness.'

'You do look rather frightening,' she admitted. 'I don't think that's necessarily bad, however.'

'No?' Dimentio raised an eyebrow.

'No. You look like no other man on this world. Your appearance instills fear, yes, but also a certain wonder, awe, and fascination.' She glanced up at his face, then back down to what she was doing. 'Well, to me anyway. Besides, it's not like you don't carry yourself like royalty. What you lack in...conventional appearance you make up for in the aura your presence gives off.' She wrote a measurement on a piece of paper and continued taking others. 'Your clothes will match you no matter your appearance.'

This brought a smile to Dimentio's face. He looked at the ceiling, trying to bring a face to his memory. He suddenly trusted this woman. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of his mother, or what he remembered of his mother anyway. 'I have received unfortunate news from one of my confidents,' he said.

'Hm?' The woman glanced up and the king thought maybe he ought not to have said that.

Might as well continue anyway. 'Yes, news that Fawful, my enemy, has gained a new ally.'

'An ally?' She made a horrified face. 'Who would ally with him?'

'Others just like him. I believe he has found a way to revive the spirits who roam this land and coerce them into aiding his mission to destroy me, and the world.'

'Absolutely disgusting,' she spat, scribbling down another number. 'No respect for the dead.'

'This is, of course, a problem. Every ally he gains only tips the odds more in his favour.'

'Sounds like you need to do the same!'

'Well yes, I—' He stopped and stared at her. 'Wait. Pardon?'

'If this Fawful creature can bring back spirits, can't you? After all, what can he do that you cannot?'

Dimentio hadn't even thought of that. _Raising the spirits...to help me..._ he thought. A wide smile spread across his face.

When the woman looked up at him again, she jumped slightly. 'That is a truly frightening smile,' she muttered, rubbing her arms.

'You,' the magician cried proudly, 'are absolutely wonderful!' He leapt up into the air and did a backflip. 'Just _think_ of what this could do! To pit him up against the spirits he himself is trying to raise...it is _fantastic!_ Ahahahahahaha!'

'I'm glad you think so.' She poked him in the foot. 'But it is a bit difficult to measure you from up there.'


	15. Chapter 15: The Greater Evil

Chapter 15: The Greater Evil

Rose

Rose blinked hard, shielding her sensitive eyes from the light pouring into the small mountainside cave. She sat up, yawning and rubbing the dust and rubble from her arms and sides, feeling incredibly sore but decently rested. Picking herself up, she walked out of the cave and parked herself on a rock, at this point not caring if her dress got any dirtier. The air was somewhat damp; the clouds, which yesterday had been a light grey, had darkened. It looked like it was going to rain, unfortunately, which meant that they were going to get wet if that was the case. She didn't like getting wet.

She tentatively looked back into the cave; she couldn't see the green boy there, so he must have been further into the cave, perhaps at the very back up against the wall. She remembered all that he had told her and a dark, angry feeling grew in her chest; he was evil. He had terrorized entire kingdoms, had been responsible for the suffering of entire towns. She and her guides should be fighting _him_ as well as Dimentio.

Right, Dimentio. He was the bigger demon here. Someone who would make it his mission to destroy everything and everyone to satisfy his own idea of a perfect world was too much of a complete monster to let win. Fawful wanted to kill him. Hopefully it wasn't to steal his power and take his place, but surely that would be dealt with if it came to that.

She huffed and set her jaw, holding her face with her fists. Part of her still viewed Fawful as the little kid he was. Though he potentially could be barely younger than she was, he was a very childish boy. The idea that he could willingly hurt other, innocent people was hard to grasp.

He looked at her weirdly sometimes. At first she thought maybe he had a crush on her, which would have made things incredibly awkward, but now that she'd spent more time with him she thought it looked more like she reminded him of somebody he had once been close to. Someone who, probably, he knew before the worlds were deleted. That made her feel weird, resembling another person. She didn't like the idea of being somebody else's doppelganger.

She leaned back on the rock, her hands behind her, holding her up. She missed her home. She missed her family and friends. Homesickness gnawed at her heart and she wiped away tears with her arm; the dirt strung her eyes and she tried blinking it away.

She didn't like it, but collaborating with Fawful was the only way to stand a chance against him. If Fawful wasn't around, she'd die. There was no way around it. He was the one used to combat and strife, and even if Dimentio couldn't be killed as-is he stood the most chance of surviving. She needed him. The enemy of her enemy would be her friend.

She got up and, preparing herself for conversation, walked back into the cave. What awaited her there was something completely shocking.

Fawful was at the very end, completely passed out on the floor. His spiralled glasses lay askew on his face, a line of drool snaked down the side of his chin. He appeared to have tried to wrap himself up with his cloak, but in his sleep he had moved a lot and it was flung haphazardly about. What was really surprising, however, was all the machinery lying around him. Incomplete devices were strewn out on the ground, wires splaying out sockets, tools propped up against half-built weapons or other things she had never seen before. Some things were crude, barely begun, while others were being finished up and glinted with sleekness even in the dark. A few cloths were hung over machines, wet with sweat.

He had built all of this. Everything was the product of this boy's genius. Seeing it all in front of her sent chills down her spine. Someone so young should not be even close to capable enough to accomplish this. Was allying herself with him really worth it after all? Was it right?

She could see his blaster on his belt. It would be easy to take without him knowing if she were quiet enough, surely. She'd already been taught how to use it. She should kill him. He was too dangerous to leave alive. Even if they killed Dimentio, he would be no better. She managed to take his blaster, pausing once as he snorted and moved in his sleep. The girl held its handle confidently, turning up the dial on the side to a level she deemed suitable enough for splattering Fawful's grey matter across the floor, then placed her finger over the trigger.

She suddenly froze; she was going to kill someone. Fawful would die at her hands, in cold blood no less. Could she do that? Should she? This would be the best time; he was asleep, defenceless. He'd never be able to react and she'd never have to see the betrayal on his face. This was for the best. She gritted her teeth and began to squeeze.

_'Rose? Is that you?'_

Rose immediately stopped what she was doing. _Yes, I'm here,_ she thought, shaking a little.

_'Oh good, I thought maybe you'd died or something!'_

The worry in her guide's voice made the girl perturbed. _What do you mean?_ she asked her, making sure to communicate via thoughts so as to not wake Fawful. She still held the gun in her hands, pointing directly at the boy's head. _I've just been here the whole time._

_'Yes, but...'_ There was hesitation on the woman's end. _'Well, never mind. The point is you're okay.'_ Rose wondered what she was getting at. Why had she thought they were in danger? Was she not able to contact them last night? _'How's Fawful doing? Is he okay too?'_

The girl looked down the barrel of the blaster at the sleeping body of Fawful. He had moved again, one arm draped over his body, his huge teeth poking into it. He almost looked cute.

Almost.

_Yes, Fawful is here too. He's asleep._

_'Still? Wow. He sleeps a lot.'_

_It looks like he was building..._ She surveyed the mass of mechanical stuff. _I don't even know what any of these things are._

_'He builds things? What kind of things?'_

Rose was getting very tired of holding the blaster as she was. She sighed and put it on the floor; she couldn't kill him. Even if it was for the better, that would be a terrible thing to have to explain to her guides. If she killed him, she would suffer their wrath, definitely. _I don't know. Machines. I've never seen anything like them before._ She stepped around one. _There are a lot of them. He must have been up the entire night._

_'He needs to get up. You can't stay in the mountain forever.'_

Rose nudged Fawful in the side with her foot. 'Fawful,' she called to him. 'Wake up. It's daytime and we need to climb this mountain.' She kicked him harder and he jolted awake.

'WAUCK!' he yelled, dazzled and confused. 'I HAVE WAKEFULLNESS!' He wiped the drool off his face and peered up at her. He blinked a few times, sorting out what he saw, then set gnashed his teeth together. 'Oh. It is being you.'

'Are we going to go?' she said bluntly. 'Dimentio's not going to kill himself.'

'That would have fortune,' the green boy replied, then picked up his cube thing and put away all of his devices. 'I had the building of some things. Mostly explosives and other devices of boom, but I am needing to have the rebuilding of my Headgear, which had the destroying in an explosion which also killed most of the allies of Fawful.' Sadness flickered across his face, but it was gone as soon as it came. 'Feh,' he grunted, then put away the cube. He picked up the blaster. 'Hmm...I do not have remembrance, but I could have swearing that this should be on the person of mine.'

'It was there the whole time,' Rose lied. 'Maybe you just forgot? You were exhausted.'

The mechanic yawned and put the blaster away, none the wiser. 'That has correctness.' There was a moment of silence as he stared into space; he was talking with their guide.

_'Good!'_ was her response. _'I hope whatever it is you built can help you.'_ Fawful laughed and responded in his head. _'Let's hope so.'_

The conversation ended and Fawful fixed her with a steely look. 'We should have going.' He tossed her his spare blaster.

'Is this even useful against Dimentio?' she asked him.

'Nopeing.' He made to walk out of the cave.

'Wh...then why would you give it to me?'

He looked back at her. 'Other people have dangerousness too.'

They climbed in stony silence. It seemed to Rose that Fawful was more at ease than she was; to him, they had spoken and things were better. They could communicate without anger. The girl knew otherwise, though. Every moment he was in her field of vision she imagined him doing terrible things. Shooting down an airship with a flurry of blasts; raging a defenceless town full of innocent people, leaving no man, woman, or child spared from his relentless fury; purposely infecting an entire city's worth of inhabitants with a terrible disease. They had all been him. He had hurt so many people. How could somebody like that be the shining knight fighting on behalf of all those who had been erased by the Void? How could he save the worlds? Even if he did, all that would be accomplished would be giving Fawful another chance to ruin more lives.

That just wasn't right.

She held the blaster in her hand, cursing herself for the situation she was in. She couldn't kill Fawful because if she did that would be the end of everything, but at the same time she had to do it to save everything from him. She kicked a rock as she climbed; this world was so relatable to her own. It really did seem peaceful. She hadn't seen the inhabitants of this world yet, but to have a god so present in their lives, to have one that looked so human, to remove all doubt from their minds that this was the way it should be...she imagined they would be a peaceful people. No strife or war or anything that would cause them pain or suffering.

Maybe this really was a perfect world after all. Her world had definitely experienced war. Famine. Social upheaval. She had liked it, but it wasn't perfect. There had been bad people doing bad things to good people. There had even been some good people doing bad things to other good people. To have a world with people who would do no wrong out of devotion to a god that would always exist would mean that it was truly a world of perfection.

She put the blaster away; the mountain was getting steeper for sure, the climbing becoming far more arduous. Her dress had ripped and torn along the bottom and become filthy with dirt and rubble. Her hands were dirty and cut in more than a few places and her feet weren't fairing much better. Looking at Fawful's slow climbing she assumed he was doing as bad, if not worse, than she was.

_Do you see Dimentio anywhere?_ she called to their guide. The ever-present fear had manifested in a permanent hold on her gut; every moment she expected the king to come out of nowhere and choke the life out of her, but it never came. Dimentio was nowhere to be found.

_'No, he's been oddly absent from the mountain. I wonder what he's been up to.'_

Rose winced as a drop of rain fell on her nose, making an unpleasant noise. She stared up at the sky; the clouds were darker than they'd ever been. 'It's going to rain,' she announced.

'Rain does not have badness,' Fawful responded. 'We can still have climbing.'

_'I think it could get difficult to climb with the lesser traction and impaired vision,'_ their guide said. _'I don't recommend climbing in that sort of weather.'_

Fawful stopped and huffed, clearly exhausted. He was smart, but not fit at all. That brought a little smirk to Rose's face, despite her own fatigue. 'Fah,' he spat. A few more drops splattered down to the ground. They were hopefully shielded from Dimentio's view, were he to come, but they would get utterly soaked if they didn't find one of those caves in the mountainside. Their guide was right, too; it would get difficult to climb in the rain. 'Okayo,' the green boy said. 'We should have shelter. I could have building, again.' The prospect made Rose unnerved.

And so they climbed. Thankfully, the skies were clear of any magical, insane god kings. They reached a cave just as it was beginning to rain, their clothes dotted with droplets. The evil boy immediately set to making his strange, technological things and the girl just sat and watched the rain.

As she listened to Fawful tinker away behind her, she couldn't help but feel an odd sense of futility to what they were doing. Was there really something on top of the mountain? Looking behind her, past Fawful, into the darkness, she wondered what the caves led to. Maybe where they were destined to go was not up, but _in_.

Dimentio

The rain poured from the sky as if the very heavens had opened up and dumped every ounce of water they possessed. Thankfully, Dimentio was able to bend the dimensions and remain completely dry.

Water ran down the sides of the mountain, running off to the ground below. The entire area had been covered in a sheet of darkness, blocking out the sunlight and obscuring much of the jester's vision. He surveyed the mountain as best he could, looking for signs of the Bean and his mysterious cohort.

_Who could it be...?_ he mused to himself.

He made a crooked smile as he saw them; spirits passing through the upper part of the mountain, at the very edge of the clouds. That must be it. The mountain housed a reservoir of spirits. He wondered if Fawful knew. He wondered if Rosabella did.

_'You're getting angry again.'_

Dimentio swallowed the rage he could feel building. _I am afraid that is unavoidable._

_'Surely that girl didn't traumatize you __**that**__ much?'_

Even after all this time, he still remembered everything about it. The pain, the betrayal, and the sweet relief of crushing her pathetic heart in his hands, of mounting her head on her father's throne. She had died for what she had done to him, and now she had violated his rule and come back. _Love leaves irreparable wounds, _he replied. _You of all things should know that._

He began to rise up to the clouds; all of those spirits, the remainders of the Void's destruction. They would be his to control. An army of creatures from all across the worlds would be at his command. _Why did the Void not erase everything? Why were they able to come back?_ he asked the Chaos Heart.

_'Have you ever seen a world stripped clean by the Void?'_

_Yes, a few. I remember Sammer's Kingdom in particular._ The thought reminded him of the moment he had killed "Mr. L" and sent him to the Underwhere. The look of terror on that usually smug, mustachioed face had been absolutely wonderful. The world of nothing, however...complete blankness as far as the eye could see, dotted with blackened, corrupted structures from the once-proud dimension. It had been chilling, and he had loved seeing every inch of it.

_'A hollow shell of a dimension remains. Even buildings are still present, all semblance of life and colour sucked from their essences. And when the Void was reversed, what happened?'_

_The dimensions were repaired,_ the jester responded.

_'Indeed. For them to repair, it was necessary for there to be an entire dimension left to piece back together, atom by atom.' _Dimentio was through the clouds now, his view cloaked by darkness. _'That is what the Void does. It tears everything in its wake apart, spreading the infinitesimal particles across a never-ending hole of destruction. A soul is the very being of any creature. It can never be truly destroyed, only separated across an infinite space. In that sense, anything destroyed by the Void does not exist; it is spread so thin that it cannot feel even the smallest spiritual exertion.'_

The king broke through the clouds, above the rain. The mountaintop was covered in snow and shone brightly against the sun. There were no spirits to be seen; all had fled into the mountain. As for the mountain itself, there was nothing at its peak; Fawful was climbing for nothing. 'How pitiful,' he laughed, and descended.

_'Did you notice the caves leading into the mountains?'_ the Heart asked him.

_Of course, _he answered._ Fawful and his partner are no doubt hiding from the rain in one._ Through the rain, he saw a light. One of the caves was lit by a flickering glow. _You know, I almost feel sorry for Fawful. Climbing so much, working so hard...yet all for naught._ He laughed.

_'You wanted to see what they would do,'_ the Heart stated.

_Indeed. I thought perhaps if I let them go they would lead me to whatever it is they're looking for._ He chuckled. _It was quite entertaining, watching them flounder up the mountain._

_'Are you going to cut their excursion short?'_

The madman's grin was huge. 'Oh yes.' He stuck out his hand, calling dark energy to his palm. 'Quite short.'

Fawful

An explosion blew in through the entrance of the cave, dark mist and flame spilling into the room. Rose screamed, the blast knocking her backwards across the floor. Fawful quickly got up, fumbling for his storage cube, and quickly put all of his things away; they were far too valuable to be lost, even in this situation.

'AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' Dimentio descended to the ground, walking into the cave. 'And so I attack, like a crouching panther lying in wait!' The jester's shape became visible in the mist.

The Bean coughed, running up to Rose. 'Have escape!' he whispered quickly. 'We are having no chance of survival!' She groaned in pain, badly hurt by the explosion. Fawful took out a Mushroom and put it in her hand. 'Run! Have speediness!' He brought her to her feet and pushed her into the cave; she stumbled and limped into the mountain, eating the item as she went.

Fawful turned and faced Dimentio, heart pounding. The wicked smile on the man's distorted face was like daggers into his courage. 'Ah, of course, tending to your cohort first. How _noble_ of you Fawful. Perhaps Mario and his ragtag group of heroes rubbed off on you after all?'

'Fink-rat!' he shouted angrily. 'I spit at your face!' He attempted to do so, but the magician was too far away.

It got the message across nicely. Dimentio's evil grin turned to one of humoured pity. 'Oh you poor child, thinking you could scale this.' He gestured around himself. 'What did you think you would find? Hope? Salvation? I have seen the top of the mountain, and do you know what I found?' He paused, drawing out the suspense. '_Nothing_. Your climb was worthless from the very beginning.'

'Your words are like horseradish on the chocolate cake that is Fawful's ears!' He took out his blaster and shot at Dimentio's face; the shot burst harmlessly against the Chaos Heart's impenetrable barrier. 'I have fury!' he growled, continuing to fire without success.

The king yawned, doing a lazy aerial flip. 'I applaud you Fawful! Truly I do! I think that last shot nearly broke the barrier. Oh wait, that's impossible. Ahahahaha!'

Fawful grit his teeth; he just shot and shot, backing up slightly as he did so. He knew he couldn't hurt him, but he kept going out of some ridiculous hope that something would happen that would allow him to stand a chance against his foe.

It wasn't going to happen.

'All right, enough,' the Bean's enemy sighed. 'I grow tired of your futile actions.' He brought his hand back. 'Die.'

Fawful stopped shooting and threw himself backwards; the blast flung him through the air, yelling. When he hit the ground he immediately struggled to his feet, shot once more randomly behind him, and ran down the tunnel.

?

_'Dimentio!'_

The man grasped his head as Rosabella's voice boomed in her head fearfully. 'Your Highness?' one of his soldiers said, running to his aid. 'Are you okay?'

_What?_ he barked back in his own mind. _What are you yelling about now you harpy?_

_'It's him, he found them!'_

'Wh...what're you talking about?' he murmured out loud, dazed from the sudden message.

_'He found Fawful and Rose! He's summoning monsters and they're coming up the mountain!'_

The false king stumbled down the steps leading to the castle throne. 'Dimentio found...?' he sputtered, eyes wide. His skin became a paler white than usual and he uttered a foul word.

'Your Highness, what's going on?' the soldier asked. More men and a few women had begun to come into the room, worried looks on their faces. 'Is it Dimentio?'

'Y...yes, he's...' He shook his head violently. 'Grambi help us,' he growled.

Another man spoke up. 'Is there anything we can do?'

'No. No, just resume your searches.'

'Your Highness...the spirits won't come out until the night.'

'Then wait until nightfall!' he barked, feeling the weight of the situation coming down upon him. 'We need to find as many of them as possible and bring them back before that monster does! If he gets to them first, who knows who he'll find?'

'But what are you going to do?'

The man grabbed a robe and concealed himself with it. He'd have to act somehow; Fawful and Rose might be able survive on their own, but that wasn't a chance he was going to take. 'I'll have to confront Dimentio myself.'

He just hoped he could remain unseen while he did it.


	16. Chapter 16: Flight of the Hunted

Chapter 16: Flight of the Hunted

Fawful

Fawful's heart was slamming against his chest. Darkness covered his field of vision, his sense of sight completely useless. His other senses weren't much use either; his nose was clogged with the scents of rock and water, there was nothing he could feel in any direction, and all he could hear was the panicked, uneven thudding of his own feet against the rocky floor, as well as—

'AHAHAHAHAHA! FLEE FOR YOUR LIFE FAWFUL!'

An explosion flashed behind him, the rush of energy throwing him forward into the darkness. His entire stomach flung itself around, the lack of sight making his flight through the air stretch on for an eternity. He covered his face with his hands, turning it away from what he hoped so, so much was the direction of the floor.

The collision was terrible. A sudden, unpredictable pain exploded across his entire right side, his arm burning. He got up again, stumbling around in the dark, and ran forward, the sound of his own hoarse breathing mixing with his footsteps.

'Can you really be so sure you won't run into a wall, my young foe?' Dimentio's words were sly and playfully malevolent. 'Or, better yet...a monster in the dark?'

At this Fawful was suddenly knocked aside by something, then grabbed from behind as he tried to get up again. Spinning his blaster around in his hand, he slammed it against whatever was holding him and pulled the trigger with his ring finger; the flash of the blaster's energy projectile lit up the room, exposing the monster and a very slowly-approaching jester for a brief few seconds.

The light faded in a snap and the thing let go of Fawful, crashing to the ground and growling. The Bean ran for life. 'Huff, huff...' he panted under his breath. 'I have fear...' And he did. There were times when he had been in danger before, yes, but this was the first time he had been on the run from an invincible foe. This filled him with a creeping terror he hadn't felt before.

'Don't crash into something Fawful! Ah ha ha!' The magician's mocking, superior tone rang out and the boy wondered whether he could see in the dark. Fawful certainly couldn't.

He needed light. Lacking any time to reach into his storage cube and get out some sort of luminous item, he aimed his blaster at the ceiling and fired; the blast crashed into the stone overhang, illuminating his path. He had been veering to the side all along, and would have hit the wall had he continued.

He straightened his path, shooting the ceiling periodically. 'Are you trying to blow up my mountain? Such an odd idea.' Fawful, unable to restrain himself, turned his head around and blew a raspberry in Dimentio's general direction. A dark projectile hit him squarely in the side, searing his body and making him tumble head over heels, yelling in pain. 'And I hit my mark, like an expert gunman at a prestigious shooting event!' the king laughed jeeringly. His voice, closer now, spoke like a disappointed parent. 'And here I thought it was going to be a little more fun.'

That was it? That was the end? A lucky shot in the dark would be the one that defeated Lord Fawful? How pathetic.

_'You.'_ The Bean started; the voice was unfamiliar and artificial sounding, as if it was a mixture of every single voice that ever existed and then spoken through a crude speaker. _'I am going to fix your sight problems.'_

'Wh...?' Wait, who in the world was this person?!

Before he had enough time to think about it, a wave of heat passed across him and a soft exclamation of confusion came from Dimentio. The heat spiked for a moment, and then the tunnel lit up; torches had lined the walls, and now each of them was burning brightly.

'How curious...' the magician murmured. 'She cannot do _that._'

Fawful forced himself to his feet, staggering; his left arm was completely limp, pulsing with shocks of pain and numbness. He crammed his blaster back into its holster and started to run down the rocky hallway, pushing his lifeless arm out of his mind.

Dimentio made a _tsk tsk_ sound, pursing his thumb and middle finger together in preparation for a snap. 'Your stubbornness disappoints me Fawful,' he called out. 'I thought you of all people would recognize a hopeless fight.' Suddenly the jester gasped as if all the air had been sucked out of him. '_GRAH!_' he shouted in anger, and the Bean heard a girl cry out. '_YOU DAMNED GIRL!_'

Fawful just ran, not looking back; processing it, the voice was not his white-haired companion. He didn't really care whose it was beyond that.

He came to a fork in the road and ran down the left passageway purely because he couldn't be bothered to stop and think about it. At this point he wasn't even thinking about anything, just running and barely feeling his left arm flop around useless like some sort of gigantic, jointed noodle.

Speaking of which, he was hungry. He hadn't eaten a cooked meal in a while, only scarfing down those stupid Mushrooms he always carried around with him. He wanted some beans, darn it. Good beans, fresh from the soil, cooked in a broth with vegetables.

By Grambi did he want some good food.

Fawful skidded to a halt as the tunnel met a wall. A solitary torch was stuck onto the upper part of the dead end, illuminating a stone sign with some words engraved on them. Thankfully, Dimentio's people did not have their own, confusing language, so he was able to read it:

_"This is a dead end. Turn back."_

Fawful stared at the sign for a second, then smacked his forehead with his functioning hand. 'IDIOOOOTS!' he snarled with frustration.

He made to turn back and found himself face to face with another of Dimentio's monsters. Big and surly, with grubby hands and powerful-looking jaws, the thing stared down Fawful. _'You are the enemy of our god!'_ it proclaimed, its deep, booming voice shaking the Bean's eardrums. It slowly walked up to him and Fawful aimed his blaster at its face.

'Have _halt!_' he demanded. 'I will have the destroying of your ugly face!'

The thing halted, reached out, grabbed his blaster, and crushed it in the Bean's hands.

Fawful regarded the hunk of crumpled metal, his eyes wide. 'Welling,' he said. '...poo.'

'_DIE!_' the thing roared. '_NEVER BOTHER OUR WORLD AGAIN!_' It clenched its fists, winding back; Fawful's heart leapt as he was uncomfortably reminded of Midbus' massive digits and the sheer force with which they could hit.

He threw himself to the side; the creature's fist crashed against the wall, sending a massive crack down the sign. 'Fink-rat!' he taunted. 'Your stupid meat hands reek of gross gruel! I dodge your pathetic attacks, laughing at you heartily!'

'_SHUT UP AND GET CRUSHED!_' the thing retorted, trying again. Fawful dodged again; the black and white monster was too slow to make up for its power.

'Munch on Fawful's ketchup of pain!' he roared, hurling the destroyed blaster at its face. It embedded itself in the monster's eyeball; his foe roared, falling onto its back. The Bean boy turned around, grabbed a half of the stone sign, and threw it down the monster's throat as he passed by. He repeated the process with the other half, listening to the choking sounds of the monster when he left.

Even without a weapon, he still wouldn't let such a muscle head outdo him.

He reached the part of the cave where the fork began and bolted down the hopefully correct path. So far he couldn't see Dimentio around, nor any of his monsters, so he was safe for now.

He emerged into a large area, circular in shape, and completely hollow down the middle. In the centre was a huge shaft reaching far up and down the mountain, with torches lining the walls as the ground spiraled upwards along the side. 'Wow...' he muttered to himself. 'I have...smallness.' His voice echoed.

A few monsters hopped up the side, fixing him with their murderous gazes and panting mouths. On the other side of the room he could see black and white figures climbing the walls, running into caves and no doubt searching for him or Rose. He wondered what happened to that girl...

He really didn't want her to die.

'Fools!' he cried. 'Now is when I ram you!' He slammed into the nearest monster, knocking it off the ledge into the abyss below. The second creature started and Fawful ran up the path, fleeing from the monster who was now chasing him. He stopped and grabbed a torch off the wall, hurling it into the monster's face, then ramming it over the side as it screamed in pain and grasped at its face. 'I have DEADLINESS!' he proclaimed proudly, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He ran up a tunnel, conscious of the growing danger of being in here for long. He needed to start going up to the top of the mountain and claim the prize that awaited him.

Rose

Rose hid behind a rock, holding Fawful's blaster close to her chest, watching at least five of Dimentio's minions go by, scouring the tunnels. She had yet to fire a shot at one, and had been here for too long; she was so terrified that if she shot one that would only make them angry.

She had been running through the dark for a few minutes, scared out of her wits, when a wave of heat had passed her and all the torches lit up, illuminating her path. She didn't know how that had happened, but it made her flight through the mountain a lot easier.

Her wounds from Dimentio's attack had healed somewhat, thanks to the thing Fawful had given her to eat. She wondered how he was fairing, sticking behind to attack an invulnerable foe. She supposed it wouldn't be that big of a tragedy if Dimentio killed him, but she knew that without the green boy she would soon follow him in his footsteps.

She got up from her hiding place and went the opposite direction of the monsters, a path going up a slope. Hopefully that meant she was heading the right way.

She met a dead end, marked with a sign helpfully stating so. She muttered a curse and brought up her blaster. 'Idiots,' she huffed, shooting the sign out of sheer panic.

The sign broke away, revealing a cracked wall beneath. 'Huh...' she whispered to herself. She supposed the wall could be solid, but it was better safe than sorry to just try what she was considering. She blasted the wall again, which cracked it a little more. Deciding she had little time to waste, the turned the dial up to full, waited a moment for it to warm up, and blasted the heck out of the wall.

The knockback literally sent her head over heels, coming to rest on her stomach and groaning. Looking at the damage she'd done, she realized the wall had entirely broken away. Excitement overriding her bruised body, she got up and ran into the new area.

It was the size of a small shed, the torches in the room snuffed out by lack of oxygen, with several chests lying about. She had stumbled upon a small treasure room. She grinned, the prospect of finding something genuinely useful in this place putting a giddy feeling inside of her.

She immediately tore the lid off of the first chest she could reach. Inside was another Mushroom, this one a pinkish tint with purple dots, the black eyes staring at her. She crammed it into her mouth; it had the same gooey innards as the last one she had consumed, but it tasted bitter. Fighting against her gag reflex, she finished eating. Nothing seemed to be happening.

She thought that was fine though, because there were more chests in the room that needed opening. The next one contained a really weird-looking thing; a shiny, metal, yellow object shaped like a lightning bolt. She had no idea what she was going to do with it, but maybe Fawful would know what it did. She pocketed it, hoping it would come in useful later.

The third chest was somewhat bigger than the previous two, and she had some difficulty in prying the heavy lid open. Inside was a large, white key adorned with a red gem at the top of the handle. She turned it around in her hands; even in the dim light provided by the outside torches, it ever so slightly sparkled. It was pretty and it was going to fit somewhere, hopefully in the mountain itself. She pocketed it as well.

'_Are you having fun stealing from our holy grounds?_'

Rose jumped and spun around, blaster pointed at a monster who had snuck in behind her. 'Go away!' she screamed. 'I'll shoot you if you don't!'

'_Those items are not yours,_' it accused her coldly. '_This __**world**__ is not yours._' It took a step towards her. '_You are not the demon child. Your skin clearly is not green._' It's eyes glinted. '_If you return the things you stole and come quietly, I will bring you to His Highness and he might spare you._'

The girl shivered at its flat tone and fired a shot, lighting up the room; the monster was much more humanlike than others had been, though it was clearly stronger than a man. It jumped up over the shot, sticking to the ceiling, its clawed fingers dug into the hard rock above. 'Dimentio is a murderous freak and you're a monster!' she yelled hysterically.

The thing dropped down and slammed her against the ground, pinning her arms to her sides. Up close, the demon-like face, with its jagged features, was terrifying. '_YOU DARE INSULT HIM?!_' it snarled with rage, letting out a hiss.

Rose instinctively squeezed the trigger on the blaster, exploding the nearest empty chest and flinging bits of hot wood and metal everywhere. The thing roared and leapt off of her; she got up and shot it in the chest a few times, blowing a small hole through it. It collapsed to the ground, breathing in shuddering gasps of air before lying still.

Rose ran to the other side of the room; there were no cracks in any of the walls and she assumed that if she tried blowing them in she'd only cause more trouble than good. Wanting some light, she turned the blaster down and lit a torch with a small but hot energy blast. As she went around lighting the torches she noticed that she felt better than she had before she ate the oddly-coloured Mushroom. It must have a gradual healing effect, she reasoned. She lit the last torch and smiled despite her recent danger; it made the room seem a lot more warm and inviting.

Suddenly the ground shook violently and she clutched one of the chests. _What did I do?!_ she wailed in her mind. Why was everything trying to kill her?!

Slowly, a spiraling stone staircase rose out of the ground, puncturing the ceiling above and breaking through to the floor above. She could have sworn she heard an odd little jingle on the wind, but that was probably her imagination. _That was...really unexpected,_ she thought. She had no idea how a staircase was able to appear after candles were lit, but it seemed to be a way up so she wasn't going to complain. She practically leapt up the steps, emerging in the upper floor.

She immediately ran for her life, blasting wildly behind her at the several creatures that had gathered to investigate the strange hole that had appeared in the ground. Even though she knew Fawful was deplorable, she really, really wished he was here to help her, because it wasn't likely she could stay this lucky for long.

?

The monster slumped against the wall, smoldering and leaking black fluids. With a snap of the fingers, it disappeared to parts unknown. He preferred to have good working space free of corpses when doing something so taxing on himself.

The man, shroud in a cloak concealing his view, wiped his face. Dimentio was certainly being aggressive with his monsters, though that did not surprise him whatsoever. The magician was as easy for him to read as a children's book. Clouded by the Dark Prognosticus' power and filled with an unimaginable lust for perfection. Above all, he was a showman. If he truly had his heart in the right place he would have quickly killed Fawful ages before now, but he loved too much to rub the pain and suffering in his victims' faces. Sadism came with a cost, and that cost was making the occasional stupid decision.

This brought a grin to the man's face. Thankfully it was a sadist they were dealing with, otherwise it might have been all over before it had even begun.

_Report, princess,_ he called out with his mind. The grin disappeared as he tried to reach out to Rosabella, that deplorable girl. It was a cruel twist of fate that he would wind up working with somebody like her. She possessed the grace and beauty of true royalty, and yet...

He scowled. He knew her type. He knew her type so well. Just looking at her brought horrid memories of his own past to the surface and he wondered not for the first time whether opposing Dimentio was worth it.

Of course it was, he reminded himself, touching a hand to his chest. No matter how much pain was in the world, no matter how many Princess Rosabellas he met along his travels, there would always be warmth to cast away the pain.

_Rosabella, answer me,_ he called again. _Are they safe?_

_'Yes!'_ she snapped. _'Yes, they're safe! They're perfectly fine! Don't worry about me though, I only __**almost died again!**__'_

_I am sure you made it out well enough,_ he replied coldly, though he felt an involuntary twinge of guilt in his chest.

_'You're a jerk,'_ she spat.

_Lovely. Now what's the situation?_

There was an almost audible ripple of irritation in his mind, if you could call it an audible sensation and he couldn't help but snicker softly. _'I managed to push the dark energy away from Dimentio's being, like you said. He reacted...violently.'_

_As was expected of him. Did Fawful get away unscathed?_ He had lost track of the boy after lighting the torches with his magic. He hoped he wasn't dead, because that would really put them in a horrible position.

_'I don't know if unscathed is the word, but he got away. Rose ran away before him.'_

So they were both running aimlessly throughout the mountain. Hopefully he could make their path a little more meaningful. He crossed his legs where he sat, back against the cave wall in the large, torch lit room,clearing his thoughts. _I'm going to try and confuse Dimentio and his people,_ he said. _You might find it a little difficult to get around from here on in._

_'Whatever increases our odds of getting out of here alive, I'll take it.'_

Suddenly, the entire mountain was in his mind's eye. Hands on his knees, he let himself view the entire thing. He could see the monsters scurrying around, the two children barely surviving against the onslaught, Rosabella making her own way up, and Dimentio, commanding his creatures as he saw fit. _I wonder how you will respond to this, Charming Magician?_ he thought, somewhat excited. He waved his hands a few times and the entrances to each chamber and room glowed briefly. The monsters that had seen the glow started, eyeing the entranceway suspiciously. One stepped through...and disappeared, reappearing right behind Dimentio, who did a double take. The man thought that was funny.

Suddenly, he got the impression that the dark magician was staring directly at him. 'How interesting,' he said. 'A dimensional interloper. Ahahahaha.' He snapped his fingers a few times and a pain flashed in his mind. Dimentio flicked the monster through, and it ended up at a completely different position.

So it was possible for him to respond in kind. The two men had identical smiles. Things had just gotten a bit more interesting.


	17. Chapter 17: Dimensional Flip

Chapter 17: Dimension Flip

Fawful

The Bean barrelled into the room, completely unprepared for anything in it yet feeling so energized and powerful that he felt he could take on absolutely anything if he really had to. As he passed through the entranceway a wave of sickness passed over him and the scenery blurred before coming to rest at positions that weren't anything like what they had been before.

'Wh...what?!' he gasped, steadying himself. 'What is this madness Fawful sees?!'

A monster appeared at the other entranceway across the room, seemingly out of nowhere, just as confused as he was. It was smaller, seemingly more agile. The instant it spotted him it lunged at him; Fawful moved to dodge, but it caught his cloak and flung him, tearing the fabric.

'Waugh!' he cried, flopping on the ground. He had no weapons on hand, though there was a half-finished blaster in his storage cube. He dreaded using such a thing in its beta stage; there was an equally-likely chance that it could end up blowing him up as well as his foe. Not to mention it would take time getting it out, which he most certainly didn't have because the thing was leaping at him again.

Fawful successfully avoided the attack, opening his huge maw and chomping down on its arm, hard; black, sludgy blood squirted out from the wound, filling his mouth with a terrible taste. He let go and spat it all out, the goo tasting like acid on his tongue. 'Blah! Blugh!' he sputtered, physically wiping his tongue with his hands. 'That has _disgustingness!_'

The monster grabbed him, digging its claws into his skin. Stinging pain surged up his belly and the Bean writhed in its grip. He smashed his head against its own, trying to force away the complete disorientation that followed. Attempting to cover his wound with his own cloak, he hobbled over to the entrance. _'No! Back away!'_ a voice warned in his mind. Without thinking he turned and went the other way; two more creatures appeared in the entrance.

A chunk of the wall suddenly came loose and smashed against the two creatures. _'Now Fawful, run through the exit!'_

Fawful threw himself through, feeling the sickness of dimensional travel. _Who are you?!_ he demanded.

_'An ally,'_ was the only answer he got.

The Bean was gasping as he ran down the tunnel. There were dark stones under his feet and going up the walls; the torches burned brighter than before and here and there were some statues depicting a masked entity he recognized as Dimentio. He must be higher up the mountain at this point, and near something important. _What have you done? _Fawful asked his strange ally.

_'I've altered the dimensions of the mountain. The pathways are scrambled.'_

He grinned. _To confuse Dimentio! That has excellence!_

_'Thank you, but—'_ Suddenly a large foe burst out of the entrance he had recently gone through. _'...but Dimentio is doing the same.'_

Fawful put on an extra burst of speed; one of the statues flung itself at the monster, burying itself in its shoulder. _I see you have more tricks of trickiness,_ he noted.

_'You have no idea how difficult this is,'_ his immaterial partner said with what sounded like half a laugh. _'Now stop and go back through the other one, right now!'_

The Bean bolted down the other direction. _So much running!_ he complained. _Why?_

_'Because, Dimentio's going to intercept you at—'_

The sentence either cut off, or Fawful failed to hear the rest as three small monsters came through the opening. 'WAUGH!' he cried, and they were on him. Fawful could feel his guide's horror as one creature dug its teeth into his bad shoulder, while the other one continued picking at the wound on his chest. The pain was agonizing, the monsters taking specific pleasure in his suffering.

The entranceway pulsed and another person ran into the room. Without hesitation they fired projectiles at Fawful and the creatures. Burning heat made him sick to his stomach, but the monsters took all the shots. He flung them off, getting up and trying to flee from this new enemy. 'You will not have the killing of Fawful!' he shouted at them.

'Fawful, it's me, Rose!' He stopped and looked back; she stood there, red in the face and panting with physical exertion, clutching his blaster in her hands.

_'Forgive me,'_ said their mysterious ally, and Rose's reaction showed that she could hear him too. _'Dimentio countered my counter of his move.'_ Fawful swore he could hear laughter.

'"Move?" Is this a game to you?!' Rose shouted in disbelief.

_'Only a little bit!'_ their guide giggled. _'Now...'_ They each felt a slight push. _'You go that way Rose, and Fawful, go that way.'_

The two looked at each other, worry reflected in their faces at their new guide. 'Do you have trusting of him?' he asked.

'No,' Rose admitted. 'Not at all.'

'Then we have reading from the same spot,' he said. Rose frowned, trying to figure out what he was saying. 'Fffff...never minding!' He turned and ran through the gate that had been assigned to him.

Rose

As Rose went through her entranceway, a blinding pain shot through her body and mind and she was spat out, landing on her front. The stone blocks had disappeared, leaving her on rocky ground once more. The torches weren't as strong here, so the sudden decrease in light left her eyes somewhat dazed. 'Ngh...' she groaned. _What in the world was that about?_

She heard pained sounds from the other end. _'He hurt me...changed the dimensions as you were moving through. You're lucky to be alive. You could have __**DIED!**__'_ As the word blasted loudly through her mind there was a hideous squelching sound from behind her and the upper half of one of the monsters fell to the ground. _'Just like that, in fact. Hee hee hee.'_

She jumped up in horror, realizing just how close she'd come to being spliced in two. _Be careful with me!_ she demanded.

_'I shall. Run that way. Now turn around and come back!'_ Rose immediately backpedalled, seeing another creature's shadow coming down the path, and ran through the gate again, ending up—

Her heart almost leapt out of her chest as she barely stopped herself from running right over the side of the huge, circular abyss going down the side of the mountain. 'Woah!' she cried, seeing a few pebbles fall down into the blackness below. Judging by the stones beneath her feet she was quite high up.

Her stomach lurched in her chest and she fell to the ground, clutching the floor with her fingers, the blood drained from her skin. _'Rose, you need to get moving! If you just sit there he's going to...damn it all!' _Two monsters emerged from opposite sides along the wall, spotting her and edging towards her. A torch flung itself at one of the monsters, who cried in pain and fell over the side. The second monster dodged the torch and loomed over her, grinning widely. _'ROSE IF YOU DON'T MOVE NOW YOU'RE GOING TO DIE AND THERE'S NOTHING I'LL BE ABLE TO DO ABOUT IT!' _It was no use. Rose couldn't move. The drop was too crippling. She was too high. She didn't even hear their voice anymore, couldn't even see the monster before her. _'...what the heck?'_

'RAAAAUGH!' screamed a familiar voice. A green blur jumped down from above, latching onto the monster and making it stumble. 'I HAVE FURY!' Fawful roared, biting into its head.

It fell over the side and the green boy leapt off, barely grabbing onto the ledge. Rose lifted out of her stupor and saw the boy hanging there, struggling with one arm to pull himself up. She slowly inched towards him, every fiber of her being screaming to get away from the edge, reached down, and clasped his arm.

For an instant, they stared at each other, two youths brought together against a godlike foe. In that moment, Rose forgot everything Fawful had ever done to deserve a grim fate. Right then, at that point, he was just her ally. That was all.

She pulled him up.

The two laid there, panting, Fawful a very pale green, Rose an even paler white than usual. _Thank you..._ she thought to her guide.

_'"Thank you?" Why?' _The Bean looked at her, the reason he had responded.

_You brought him to me. You told him to save me. Thank you so much..._

_'Hahahaha.'_

'What's so funny?' she asked out loud, irritated.

_'Girl. I did not ask him to save you. It was only through me talking to you that he even learned you were in danger.'_

'...what?' But...that wasn't possible. 'But you brought him to me through the portals!'

_'Wrong again. I did no such thing. Fawful found his way through on his own.'_

Rose looked at him; in his eyes were a level of concern she hadn't before seen on him. 'You...predicted where they would end up? How?' The boy only grinned, and she was again reminded of just how intelligent the young-looking boy actually was. She wondered how many years his childlike body was hiding inside of it.

_'Now, kindly get up and move. I can't keep this up and—' _His voice cut off abruptly.

_...what?_ Rose thought to their ally. 'What?!'

He didn't answer.

Dimentio

'And so I have found you!' he cried extravagantly, 'like a hound dog pursuing an evasive hare!'

The room was fairly large, lit on all sides by bright torches. A large, glass ornament which housed another, bigger flame, hung from the ceiling, leaving the room perfectly illuminated. Against a wall on the other side of the room rested a man covered in a dark cloak, legs crossed, with gloved hands over his knees. Judging from their clenched position, he was exerting a great amount of effort. The Master of Dimensions knew exactly what kind of effort that entailed.

Dimentio walked into the room, clapping his hands. 'I must say, you had me on edge! I thought perhaps you might get those two to the top of the mountain. Perhaps you would have had I not interfered.' He grinned widely. 'Lighting the torches, swapping the dimensions of this mountainous maze...predicting my own moves as I predicted yours. Fleeing from my pieces.' He winked. 'I nearly had those two, but you are a crafty one. And then Fawful decided to act on his own. That was quite surprising. Perhaps he is more intelligent than I give him credit for.' The figure was looking at him now; two eyes shone beneath the cloak. 'Not to mention having that dreaded princess ambush me and saving Fawful.' He paced to the left, making flashy movements with his hands, his feet barely touching the ground. 'Your meddling has truly been a bothersome thorn...and yet, in a way I enjoyed your attempt at outdoing me. However...' He snapped his fingers and a dark flame grew in his palm. 'Your life ends here. _After_ I remove that cloak and find out just who is hiding under that hood!'

The man stood up and paced in the opposite direction, wringing his hands. '_Dimentio, is it?_' he asked in a heavily concealed voice; the magician giggled at his silly attempt to hide even that aspect of himself from him. '_Yes, I agree that it was enjoyable. Even at the risk of those two dying, I had a little bit of fun.'_ Dimentio could see a grin as well as eyes under the hood; the man's skin looked white from what he could see. Definitely not of his creation. '_But can you be so sure you will stop me here? I have more tricks up my sleeve than dimensional chess._'

'Ahahahaha! So sure of yourself!' He threw the dark fireball at him; it exploded, scattering dust everywhere. The man flew to the right, the cloak billowing from the movements. 'And yet, I have the upper hand!' He threw another one, which the man dodged.

'_Ha ha ha! You think the Chaos Heart can harm me?_' The man flew up in Dimentio's face, then disappeared. '_The answer, of course, is yes._' The magician threw another fireball behind him, unsuccessfully hitting him. '_But only if you manage to land a hit!_' Dimentio jumped in the air, leaving the ground behind him, and waved his hands. A glowing box appeared around the man, who effortlessly teleported out of it. '_Such a pity you're so weak without the big bad Chaos Heart!_'

The king laughed loudly, shooting a dark projectile at the man, then warping the dimensions of the shot, causing it to explode where the figure reappeared. A cry of pain rang out. 'One uses every advantage available to him. Besides...' He compressed a block of dimensional energy, then threw it at the staggering man. It burst with a _bonk!_ and buffeted the man backwards. 'I am not completely useless without its power.'

He disappeared; perhaps he could show this person some old tricks of his. He assailed him with dimensional blocks while he was invisible, which he managed to evade. He then reappeared, an illusionary clone of himself present. 'I need no Chaos Heart to dispose of you!' he proclaimed, making sure his clone mimicked his words completely. 'All I need is...magic!'

Both clones threw groups of blocks at him; he dodged them all, throwing a colourful projectile of his own at, pathetically enough, his clone. The shot went right through. '_Ah...wrong one..._' he muttered dejectedly, then dodged a larger dimensional projectile. '_It has been a long time since I've battled anyone,_' he confessed, flinging his hands downwards. Dimentio felt a force exerted on the Chaos Heart's shield and he smashed against the ground, a dimensional wall pushing him into the floor. '_But perhaps you shall be my first victory in many years._'

'Ha! What a joke! It is to laugh!' Dimentio laughed. His clone hit the man in the back with dimensional magic, making the dimensional wall disappear. He waved his hands and several boxes of energy surrounded the figure. 'Your first battle in years shall be your last.' He snapped his fingers and all the boxes exploded.

The man reappeared elsewhere in the room. '_While I am on the defense, you cannot harm me,_' he said. '_I can dodge your attacks until the day I wither away._' He vanished out of the way of a dark magic blast. '_However...I have some offensive moves reserved for such an occasion._' He touched ground, put his hands over his mouth, and screamed.

The sound was so absolutely ear-piercing it brought Dimentio to his knees, clasping the sides of his head in a desperate attempt to block out the noise. The sound was a nightmare, reverberating at an unbearable rate, pounding against his eardrums, stabbing at his skull like knives. _BLOCK IT OUT!_ he screamed painfully in his mind. _STOP THE SOUND!_ The noise went up in pitch, making him curl up on the ground, then lowered to a quick, pounding drum, then went up again.

_'I cannot stop it!'_ the Chaos Heart protested. _'Sound is beyond my capabilities!'_

The noise reached its most terrible pitch yet; his eardrums ached in protest, his head pounded. In desperation he blew out a dimensional pulse which ceased the noise and made the figure stumble backwards. He got up, clutching his head.

Dimentio snapped his fingers and the area the man was standing in exploded; he cried out, flinging his burning cloak aside to reveal...

A man in a rather expensive-looking kinglike outfit wearing _his mask._

'You _rat!_' the god roared in ire. 'How _dare_ you?!'

The man jumped up in the air, throwing a quick projectile at the ground; it blew up, scattering dust and residual energy throughout the room, obscuring his vision. '_Is it not wonderful?_' he asked gleefully, his voice coming from behind him, then from beside him. '_It fully captures your true essence of being, Dimentio! You are nothing but a fool, doomed to a life of serving those above you!'_

'Disgusting peasant!' he growled, looking around for him. 'I am a god.'

The dust cleared abruptly, brushed aside by an unseen force. The lithe man flew right through his illusionary self, hand outstretched, a toothy grin visible beneath the mask. '_Then I am the blasphemer who has slain the god._'

A projectile from his hand exploded against the Chaos Heart's shield, which protected Dimentio perfectly from danger. The unknown figure wearing his mask touched down upon the ground, staring up at him, the grin gone. 'Oh yes, bravo!' the magician laughed. 'Help me, I am slain!' He clutched at his heart dramatically, feigning some sort of trauma. 'Why don't we finish this?'

The former jester cracked the floor with the blast he unleashed upon the man, a scream of pain echoing throughout the room. The figure was left lying on the ground, battered and burned, groaning in pain. 'Now,' Dimentio declared. 'Your death has arrived.' He floated down to meet him, the man staring up at him, agony evident in his eyes and his gritted teeth. 'Show me your face, O slayer of gods,' he jeered. He reached out to grab the mask with his hand.

It went right through the man's head.

'...what?' Dimentio grasped at the figure's face, but no matter how many times he tried his hand just passed through it like it was an...illusion. 'WHAT?!' He jumped back, completely shocked. 'That's...impossible!'

The grin on the illusionary man's face was so wide it should have split it in two. '_I told you, Pleaser of Crowds,_' he hissed, barely holding back laughter. '_I had more tricks than you thought._'

The illusion disappeared, leaving Dimentio alone in the room, staring into the space that had once housed the phantom.

He had been tricked. The entire battle had been a complete sham. He had been made a fool.

White hot rage boiled up in him. 'That...accursed...' He bellowed in ire, a dimensional maelstrom of energy rocking the room, blowing out all the torches, shattering the glass ornament, and sending deep tremors throughout the entire mountain.

They would all _pay for this_.

Fawful

They felt the quake rock the mountain, making the ground shudder and detaching a few of the torches from the walls, some falling down the centre of the monolith. 'Wh...what was that?!'

'I don't know...' the Bean's companion said quietly.

_'That was Dimentio! It had to have been!'_ Their female guide's voice echoed through their minds.

'H...hey!' Fawful cried. _Who is your companion being? Who are you? How can you make dimensions have scrambliness?!_

_'I am afraid there is no time for answers!'_ This time it was the heavily filtered, presumably male voice. _'He's been distracted for now, so let me take you up to the mountaintop!'_ The worry in his voice made Fawful afraid. _'You will __**not**__ want to cross Dimentio's path right now.'_

_'What did you do?!'_ the immaterial girl asked angrily.

_'I attacked his pride. Also—'_ A cry of pain echoed through Fawful's head and he tensed automatically. _'Watch your tone, woman.'_ Both Fawful and Rose were about to jump to the girl's defense, but were interrupted by the man's urgent and very angry _'__**Move!**__'_

They ran through the nearest entranceway and suddenly stones were under their feet again. They hurried along the passage, Rose taking the lead due to her being the only one fit to hold a weapon, quickly gunning down any creatures unaware of their sudden presence. 'Fawful?' Rose panted, looking back briefly at him. 'I'm sorry.'

'It has okay,' he answered, smiling encouragingly. Even though he had been hurt by Rose's reaction to his crimes, he was legitimately surprised by just how ashamed she looked when she apologized to him. Maybe there had been more hatred than he had first assumed.

They emerged in a room teeming with monsters. At their front was Dimentio, with a look of embarrassed and utter contempt on his face despite having a chilling smile on his face. 'Good afternoon,' he whispered, making both Fawful and Rose back up, frightened. 'I see you have taken advantage of your friend's abilities. And that you have a cohort.' He motioned to Rose, who inched closer to Fawful despite being the only one of the two with a weapon. 'How cute. Another wretched girl hiding behind you.' He floated towards them, dark energy swirling around his palms.

'Why do I know that voice...?' the girl whispered in Fawful's ear. 'It sounds so familiar...'

'_STOP WHISPERING!_' the magician roared, and Rose squeaked in terror. 'Ah ha...ah ha ha ha ha ha.' Dimentio laughed, sighing at the same time. 'Why do I have the terrible suspicion that anything I do here is going to fail miserably? You've turned me into a pessimist.' He brought his middle finger and thumb together. 'Oh well. I shall not fail for want of trying.' He snapped and the monsters attacked.

Fawful dived away from the din, hearing his blaster go off as Rose fled, blasting all the while. One creature fell, burned through by the energy, while another managed to stay up despite its wounds.

A dimensional pulse threw him across the room, his useless arm flailing miserably. Before he landed on the ground, Dimentio flew the breadth of the chamber and grasped him by the back of the neck, spinning him wildly and slamming him down against the solid ground. He felt his bad shoulder snap and crunch; though the sound make him sick, he felt absolutely no pain from it. His face was against the stone tiles, pressed against the dust by the jester's foot. 'Ahahahahahahaha!' he laughed, grinding his heel into the Bean's head. 'You and your human consort will both die here,' he taunted. 'I will collect your spirits and raise them again with the Chaos Heart, then use you to track down those other two interlopers. After they are killed I will slit both your throats and mount your heads on my throne as a testament to my power. You won't even resist. I'll have you _begging_ to die just to please me, your new master.'

'R...raise the spirits...?!' he groaned, his eyes shut against the floor.

'What, you thought you were the only one who could raise the dead?' There was a _ping!_ and the weight disappeared off of Fawful's head. He got to his feet, but in an instant he was surrounded on all sides in an orange box. 'Aha! It's been a while since I've used this particular magic trick. I will make you _disappear!_' He pursed his fingers together. 'Now all it needs to do is work. Ciao, Fawful!'

A blast of energy collided with the back of Dimentio's indestructible barrier. The second it took for the magician to flinch was enough; Fawful hoped to Grambi he still had dimensional powers after all this time. He drew up a flat box around himself and flipped, his surroundings spinning. When he stopped, he was safe outside Dimentio's exploding cube.

'Ha ha ha! I have chortles!' he laughed mockingly.

'Your arm appears to be weighing you down, my Beanish friend,' the magician noted. 'Allow me to take it off your hands.'

He slashed his flat hand through the air and a slicing sound rang out; Fawful's arm was completely separated from his body, flopping to the ground where it laid, blackened and dead. The Bean was knocked away, landing on his back and gaping at his now disembodied arm, which leaked no blood. Dimentio's attack had completely killed it.

Another shot hit Dimentio's barrier. 'Let him go you monster!' Rose screamed.

'Hah!' the king laughed. 'Another human thinks she can put a dent in my rule.' He swiped his hand and the girl was thrown off her feet, falling on the ground. Dimentio teleported in front of her and gripped her by the shoulders, lifting her up. 'Let's see what _you_ look li—'

He paused, his smile wiped away from his face. For a few moments he just stood there, holding Rose up in the air, staring at her facial features with a look of growing agitation. His eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he dropped her on the ground. 'You're...!'

'I remember you,' the white girl hissed, her eyes burning with hatred. 'You're the one who attacked my world. You're the one who killed me.' She was shaking, clearly afraid, but her fists were clenched and her mouth was set in an enraged grimace. 'You killed my whole family! All of my friends! And me!'

'No, no you can't...!' Dimentio was gibbering. He put his hand up, trying to focus power but failing; dark energy gathered in his palm and dissipated as quickly as he could summon it.

Rose's gaze snapped to look behind Fawful, fear displacing her anger. 'Fawful, behind you!'

He spun around and saw an absolutely huge creature looming over him, fists clenched. He couldn't get out of the way. It was too late.

The fists went right through his body, smashing against the ground below him.

All movement stopped, every occupant of the room staring directly at him. The monster brought its fists back up, a shocked expression on its face.

'...another illusion.' Dimentio's voice was tired and lifeless. He and the rest of the monsters disappeared without a moment's notice, leaving the two kids alone in the room.

Fawful was in shock. His arm gone. _His arm was gone!_ He had already lost feeling in it prior to the dismemberment, but the fact that he was literally missing a limb was making him dizzy and disoriented. The end of the stump, sliced clean through, was black and rotted, skin peeling off and glistening with dried blood and muscle. He wiggled his shoulder hysterically, in some sort of mad hope that he could somehow fix himself if he could move the limb he no longer had.

'Oh god!' Rose cried. She ran over to him. 'He...he...!' Her eyes darted from Fawful's arm to where Fawful's arm should have been. She clasped a hand to her own, lurching. 'How are you not bleeding?!' At this point Fawful did not care.

_'You're going to have to get moving again,'_ their male guide warned them. _'My illusion of the monster won't have tricked Dimentio for long. He'll be back when he realizes you were real after all. Yes I know he's missing an arm!'_ he snapped, presumably after Rose complained through her thoughts. _'I can't do anything about that! All I can do is get you moving!'_

Rose grabbed Fawful and slung his only arm over her shoulder. 'Come on!' she whispered to him. 'Wow, you're light.' The boy didn't respond, feeling nearly ready to vomit from what happened. He swayed away from Rose and did just that on the floor next to them. Rose urked in her own manner, but managed to keep her stomach under control.

At the end of the passage they came across a gate, sparkling white and adorned with a large lock. Rose sat Fawful down and pulled out a key matching the gate. 'Where...?' he shivered, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from his shoulder. 'Where did you have the finding of that key?'

'In a room in the mountain,' she explained, also not looking at him and his stump. She turned the key in the lock, which unlocked and fell to the ground.

_'Leave the key. It won't fit anywhere else,'_ their male guide told them.

They entered the room. Inside was a fountain very similar to the one they had seen in the Purity Heart's dimension after the temple. It was smooth and white, matching the design of the door. Around it floated whispy beings, formless in nature, but vaguely recognizable as people.

They had found a reservoir of spirits.

The two of them walked up to the fountain. Rose dipped her hand in it. 'It's just ordinary water...' she said dejectedly. She extended a hand, the spirits running through her fingers. 'I wonder who all these people are?'

Fawful spotted a face he recognized amongst the grin and his heart did a leap. He gasped and slipped from Rose's grasp, standing up shakily and holding the rim of the fountain. Could it be him? 'Oh...' he whispered, a small smile on his face. 'It is being you...'

'Who? I can't see you looking at anyone...'

The Bean's soft smile turned into an overjoyed grin. He remembered him. He remembered the very last time — and one of the only times — he had ever had a conversation with him. He had treated him poorly, and had been swept away so suddenly. And now he was coming back. His hand grasped the spirit, now barely solid against his skin. He could feel the growing joy in his heart; someone he knew was coming back.

'I'm afraid I can't let you do that.'

They both heard the dark energy blast behind them, but it never struck its target. It was engulfed in a blinding white light. 'Hahahaha!' Fawful laughed with elation.

'No!' Dimentio stood in the room, hand over his face.

The light cleared, and a single, boisterous voice split the silence. 'GRAH-GOOOOOOOOGLYYYYY!' A large, armoured man burst out of the light, right at Dimentio. 'CHUNKS AWAY!'

'G-GRK!' the magician grunted. The man slammed against Dimentio's barrier, making it skid across the floor into the wall. 'You...!'

'Wah hah hah hah! Miss me?! Yeh aren't gonna pull anythin' this time!'

The magician's eyes were darting from the warrior to Fawful and, most often, to Rose. He gathered dark energy in his hand. 'I'll kill you a thousand times over if I must!' he declared. The man lifted the king up in the air, barrier and all, flinging Dimentio against the side of it. 'WHAT THE _OMPH!_'

'If I can't hurt yeh,' the man bellowed, 'I'll just batter yeh around! HUUUURGHAH!' The magician and his protective box were hurled across the room into the fountain with a crash, cracking it down the centre and scattering the spirits.

'Ggggrrrrhhhh...you...!' Dimentio hopped up and focussed dark energy in his palms. 'Your game was over before it began!' He raised his hands above his head. The man bounded across the room, covered Rose and Fawful with his massive bulk, and the room exploded. The blast blew the entire top off the mountain, snow rushing in. The floor of the room, directly over the huge drop through the centre of the mountain, blew away, and the three who could not fly plummeted down, crying out, into the depths below.

Fawful.

Rose.

And O'Chunks.

Dimentio

The snow parted around him as it fell into the abyss below, taking the three heroes with them. Fawful, that blasted O'Chunks, and...

And that girl. That girl who he had, with the help of a rather horrid witch, turned into the shapeshifter named Mimi. The girl who, after her transformation, would come to do his bidding as he and King Esteban, as he was known, founded the Tribe of Darkness. The girl who would eventually be lost to time, left behind as the Tribe grew, conquered, and fell. The girl who, tied by the strings of fate, would be brought back to him as foretold by the Dark Prognosticus itself.

That girl who resembled Rosabella to such a degree that he blamed it on an enormous cosmic joke.

That girl who would rise up against him and stand tall in his wake to the bitter end.

That girl who he fell in love with.

He could feel the Chaos Heart writhing against the imperfect emotion, going through agonizing pain. The three of them would not be killed by the fall. In fact, it would help them. He knew that. He could feel the Purity Heart's energy like an updraft. He could not pursue them without weakening himself.

Besides, he thought, twirling the misty mass that was a spirit between his fingers, glowing black from the Chaos Heart's energy. He had far more important things to deal with.

There was no way Fawful could stand against what he had in store.


	18. Chapter 18: Familiar Faces

Chapter 18: Familiar Faces

Dimentio

_'You have been staring at your hands for ten minutes now.'_

Her. The girl. The white-haired, red-eyed girl. The one he had killed.

_'It is somewhat disconcerting.'_

Mimi. She was Mimi with a change of colour.

_'I can feel your emotional strife. It is incredibly uncomfortable for me.'_

The two spirits he had collected from the recently-destroyed reservoir circled him slowly, wispy tails sending curls of white smoke into the air. They had faces Dimentio knew well, occasionally flashing from their forms.

_'What will you be doing about the boy?'_

_Nothing._

The first response in ten minutes of utter silence. _'Nothing?'_

_Nothing._ The voice in his mind was deadpan. _Nothing can be done for now. He is in a realm which we cannot enter._

_'Those spirits you have collected...I assume Fawful will have difficulty besting them.' _Dimentio did not respond. _'Blast,'_ the Chaos Heart snarled, sensing more silence to come.

Haunted by his heart. Always. A hand trailed to his chest and he clenched his fists, the fabric of his black shirt crumpling. He wondered if things had been this bad for Bleck. Perpetual heartbreak each and every waking moment, all the fault of a single girl who had touched him the way nobody else could have.

He should have killed her. Killed all of them. He should have simply walked up and choked the life out of all of them, the girl first and foremost. He shouldn't have done what he did.

He couldn't have done it. He couldn't have killed her. Not her. Anybody else but her.

'Why is this HAPPENING?!' he screamed, blowing a hole through a wall in the throne room. The spirits quailed, their essences telling them to fear, but against their will they stayed at his side. 'No matter what happens, no matter how many times her life is snuffed out, _she keeps coming back! __**How can she keep coming back?!**_'

_'She is not even the same girl!'_ the Chaos Heart snapped. _'You must get your emotions under control!'_

Dimentio's rage shifted into laughter. 'Ahahahahaha! Not the same? She is the girl without the body of a monster! She is exactly the same! Ahahahahahahah—'

Suddenly, a cold grip closed over Dimentio's body and he sunk to his knees, gripping his throat. _'Be. __**Quiet.**__' _The Chaos Heart's voice was twisted into cold malevolence.

_How...what...?!_ Panic struck the magician. _What are you...?!_

_'Is success not your goal? Maintaining your perfect world? Then listen to me.'_ A sensation like a sledgehammer against his brain made him lurch. _'Keep her out of your mind. Do not pay attention. Prepare for the oncoming attack on Fawful.'_

_How do I...do such a thing...?_

_'Occupy yourself.'_

The grip vanished and Dimentio was left panting on the floor. What had just happened? Had the Chaos Heart done that? 'How...did you...what?' he gasped.

_'It was for your own good.'_

He struggled off the ground. 'Right...' he muttered, wiping away sweat. 'Good. Ahahaha.' His heart was beating hard as he stood up, swaying slightly. 'I suppose all I can do is wait,' he said to himself.

He snapped his fingers and the hole in the wall repaired itself. He floated to the door and walked out of the room. There were many places he had not visited.

Princess Rosabella

She sat in a chair placed in the room without any particular preference to location. She had changed into a new dress, this one clean and free of the dirt and wear that had come from her trek through the mountains.

'Are you sure they're okay?' she asked the man sitting on the throne. 'He could have killed them...'

'No,' the man replied. 'They're fine. They're on the right track entirely.' Rosabella didn't like the way he was looking at her. Then again, she never did. It felt like he was trying to crush her heart with his eyes. Once again she felt she ought to say something to make him feel better in her presence, but she knew it would do no good. Her mere existence brought back painful memories for him, ones she knew she would never understand herself.

'What you did in the caves was...impressive,' she admitted. 'They'd have been caught for sure without you there.'

'Mhm...' he muttered in agreement. 'Still. It was close.'

'I wonder why he stopped...' she mused.

The man's look changed; it became seemingly less hostile, but it made her even more uncomfortable somehow. 'That girl. Rose. The one with Fawful, who shares your name.'

'Yes? What about her?'

'Did you know she looks nearly identical to you?'

Huh? What was this about? 'No...I didn't know. I didn't really notice when she was revived.'

'She does. Her facial features, her hair, her eyes, her shape. I saw her when I was making sure she didn't get killed in the mountain.'

'I see...' She fiddled with her hands. 'Do you think her resemblance to me has anything to do with—'

'I believe that it has _everything_ to do with Dimentio's behaviour,' the king interrupted. 'And yet, I believe it is only part of the whole.'

Now she was lost. 'What do you mean?'

'In your afterlife, did you ever meet another girl? Even in your dreams?' He was watching her intently now.

'Um...' She tried to think back. 'I think I remember...something. But it was just a dream.'

'What was the dream like?'

'I think...I was dreaming about Dimentio. When he was younger. We were playing together. But...it was like I was watching it from someone else's point of view. As if it wasn't actually happening at that moment.' Her eyes rested their view on the ground. 'It made me sad. I knew...something had happened to him. That after the day I died he wasn't actually himself anymore. I don't know what it was, but he stopped being human.' She looked back up at the man on the throne, who had a slight grin on his face and was seemingly staring into space. Rosabella had hated knowing what she had then. That Dimentio would never again possess the mind nor body of a human being. That pale white skin had given way to a dark, unnatural blue.

'Yes. His humanity was suppressed.' He leaned back. 'But now that this world has turned us on our axes, perhaps that will change after all.' He returned his gaze to her and his grin turned less than happy. 'Then what? What else was in this dream of yours?'

The former princess searched her mind. 'Um...there was someone else with me,' she remembered. 'Someone...a lot like me. I didn't really get a good look at her, but somebody was there.'

He rested his chin on one of his hands, the other lightly holding his elbow. 'Yes, of course,' he said. 'Exactly what I thought.' Rosabella was confused. 'The girl you saw was Rose. Or, rather, someone who used to be Rose.'

'If it wasn't Rose then who was it?'

There was a pause, and the king took a breath before answering. 'Dimentio killed Rose, many, many years ago. He would have left anybody else to die, but as you know she resembles you quite a lot. Obviously you had a hold on him even centuries after your death.' He paused again. 'Rose's corpse was reanimated into another being and given frightening abilities. She became a completely different person, with new experiences and a distinct personality. Dimentio would eventually lose her, and then come across her once more near the end of his life. It was this girl that, eventually, made her mark on him. It didn't matter if she was a near carbon copy of you, the one who devastated him.'

An odd chill went up Rosabella's spine as she remembered the psychotic boy who had murdered her. 'You can't seriously be saying...?' she gaped.

'Yes. Dimentio fell in love with her.'

The princess grimaced. 'That is absolutely terrifying,' she muttered.

'I have been watching the monster that is His Highness for a very long time,' the man explained, a glint in his eyes. 'Every move he made, every breath he took, every emotion he felt...I was privy to it all. It is because of this that I know an undisputed fact about Dimentio: he will not kill Rose. He cannot kill her.'

'How do you know? He can't be _that_ predictable.'

The king huffed. 'You forget who you are speaking to. I know this because I understand Dimentio. I know this because were I ever forced into a situation, I would also be unable to touch the girl.'

'Yes, I suppose...' The true meaning of that sentence clicked in the girl's mind. 'Wait. Do you mean what I think you mean?'

This time the smile disappeared entirely and the boy looked away dejectedly, attempting to hide as much grief as he could. 'Yes. I loved her too.'

Rosabella couldn't look at him. Was this why he couldn't stand her? 'Um...if you don't mind me asking...what was her name? After she stopped being the Rose we know?'

There was a long stretch of silence as the man held the same expression, refusing to look at the one who so closely resembled this girl. Rosabella understood now, that his vendetta with their enemy was more than she originally thought. There were emotions in play that she hadn't even come close to predicting between them. After what felt like a long time, she got her answer.

'Mimi.'

Danni

'_Graaaaaaaah!_'

Passersby glanced, stared, and ducked as a rock was kicked into the air, tumbling across the sky and landing next to another girl's foot. She looked up at the one who had kicked it for an instant, then returned to the conversation she had been having with her mother.

She.

Was.

So.

_Frustrated!_

After being so soundly rejected by her god, the blue-skinned girl Danni had found the nearest travelers and sweetly asked for them to take her to her home town. She guessed they had been feeling nice at that point, because most people generally asked for something in return for transportation as well as protection from whatever animals were out there. Sometimes it paid to be a harmless-looking, cute little girl.

Harmless-looking. She'd prove that wrong when she showed that stupid little huge-toothed green kid who was boss!

She was walking aimlessly around the town, amidst the people who regularly spent their days in the square. She had gone around to random people asking for help tracking down Fawful, but so far hadn't been met with anything other than failure. Some people had given a nervous "no". Some had laughed at her. One old man had given her candy, and while she resented the gesture she of course took the candy.

After all, candy was obviously the best thing ever.

So here she was, angrily kicking around rocks with a piece of candy dissolving in her mouth. She loved the taste. Rich and sweet, and sticky on her teeth. Mmmmm. She kind of wished she had gotten more from the man. One could never eat too much candy, at least until you gained a million pounds or developed some sort of disease.

She sat on a bench in the square, her chin resting in her palms, and sighed deeply. She guessed it would have been stupid to go after the little green boy after all. He hadn't seemed so dangerous to her, but according to Dimentio himself he was a formidable foe, and one that would stop at nothing to bring the world down. If she had ever tried to hurt him he'd probably kill her in less time than it took to blink. Thinking about him made her so mad! What kind of person would want to _blow up the world?_ A crazy person, that's what.

She hopped up from the bench, feeling herself growing restless again. She never could sit still for very long, which often caused her parents a lot of grief. She always wandered off to random places and had gotten into trouble with the local wildlife a lot, though one time she had actually befriended one of them. Then it died. Sometimes Danni wondered if maybe her boundless energy had infected it and it couldn't handle it, but then she would shake her head and remind herself that that was silly.

She rounded a corner, waving occasionally to the people she knew, moving the candy around in her mouth with her tongue. Her stride had quickened, her energy building, and with it her frustration. She just wanted to club a green kid to death! Was that so bad?! She broke into a run, weaving around people and apologizing hastily whenever she bumped into someone. As she turned down another street she couldn't help but notice that throngs of people had begun to form. It didn't matter to her though, because she just kept running. Sure, it meant she had to be a little more careful, but no huge group of people could stop her! Her speed was unbreakable! She would never be—

_SLAM!_

She was stopped. Her mind seemed to fling itself out of her body and around in manic cartwheels after she had crashed into what felt like a wall made out of a mix between bricks and water, if that made any sense at all which she guessed it didn't. She fell down to the ground, her wide eyes darting around to make sense of the swirling circles around her. Her face hurt, her head was pounding, and her right arm felt like something very huge had stepped on it, hard.

'Uuuuurrrnnnggghh...' she groaned. 'Ooooooooowwwwwww...'

'Ah ha ha ha! Apparently some people are a little _too_ eager to see me!' The crowd laughed.

Danni's head shot up, sending another pulse of pain through it. 'Freaky fangs!' she gasped.

'F..._freaky fangs?!_' the man spat incredulously. 'What in the...?!' There was a pause. '..._you!_'

Her head was still spinning, and when she smiled it was goofy and lopsided. 'Heeeeeey~!' she giggled. 'Hee hee!'

Dimentio grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up. A strange sensation spread through her body, a warmth that was somehow also cold, and banished all her pain. 'You broke an arm, running into my barrier, and probably cracked your skull too,' he sighed. 'Where in the world were you going?'

'Nowhere!' she smiled, and was met with one of the most tried expressions she had ever seen. 'What? Sometimes I just like to run around really fast.'

Her creator put her down and she noticed that the crowd had backed away somewhat. 'Ah,' he said, grinning widely and showing his freaky teeth. 'Exhilaration for its own sake. Do you live here?'

'Yep!' she answered. 'My home's a way's away from the square though. My mom and dad are normally out and leave me to do whatever I want.'

'Which naturally involves trouble,' Dimentio speculated (very correctly). Danni's only response was another quiet giggle. 'Tell me...' he said. 'Have you ever flown?'

She shook her head. 'That's impossible,' she told him.

Dimentio lifted himself off the ground. 'My dear, nothing is impossible for the Master of Dimensions!' He did a midair spin. 'I would be delighted to take you on a ride.'

It was unlike anything she had ever done in her entire life.

The landscape was sprawled out before her, every person, animal, and plant a dot on the ground so far below. The wind was stronger and somewhat colder up here, and she clutched the fabric of Dimentio's shirt tightly and pressed up against him. 'Brrrr...' she shivered.

'Is it not wonderful?' her creator called over the wind. 'The world seems smaller, and yet so much bigger.'

'It's pretty cool!' Danni replied enthusiastically. 'And you made it all, too.' She couldn't see Dimentio's face from on his back, but she got the feeling he rather liked that.

Danni felt herself well up with admiration and reverence for the person whose back she was clinging tightly onto. What an enormous, wonderful world. She wished she could jump off and fall to the ground and just run really fast everywhere. See everything this amazing, awesome guy had crafted. Everything from the trees to the mountains to the rivers to the destroyed village, she wanted to see it all.

Hang on a second.

'Hey freaky fangs,' she said, nervously prodding the back of his head.

'We are quite high up,' the magician responded.

'We sure are!' Danni beamed.

'That was a threat.'

'...oh.' She looked back down and suddenly wished she were back on the ground. 'Well, uh...what's with that village over there? Someone totalled it.'

'Somebody _what?_' Dimentio sharply jerked his head to where she pointed. 'What the Underwhere?'

'Hee hee, you said underwear!' the girl giggled, then shrieked as the magician and his rider fell sharply, decreasing altitude and approaching the destroyed village.

Danni fell unceremoniously off of him when he touched ground, flopping onto the earth, which was burnt and charred with what smelled like a sweet, inviting substance. She took a deep breath; the air tasted absolutely wonderful. 'Mmmm...' she said. 'What's this in the air?'

'Dark magic,' Dimentio answered quickly, and the harshness of his voice made her stop in her tracks. He looked back at her, his massive yellow eye holding a cruel gaze; his pointed teeth were set. 'I don't know what happened here,' he continued. 'But I advise you to stay close to me. Whatever or whoever has done this could disintegrate you with a cough.'

A small shadow of emotion she identified as fear had begun to creep into her. Death was a thing that happened, obviously. Sometimes the elderly passed away, sometimes children were taken by animals; however, when the danger was to her, it held a personal significance. She drew close to the man, who was barely taller than she was, but who she knew surpassed her in age by probably thousands of years.

The ground was slick and shiny and coated in burning wood and blackened earth. The sweet, tasty smell of what was apparently dark magic hung in the air, travelling into her nostrils and filling her with a very conflicted mix of fear and literal hunger. Houses had been toppled, some completely burnt to ash. Dark liquid was smeared everywhere; bodies littered the ground, frozen in horror and disbelief. Some were completely expressionless. Danni realized that she had been to this village before. A number of bodies were those who she had known personally; a woman who often made her clothes, a kid who nervously followed her around on occasion when she visited, and even a boy she had met who had vehemently decided that she was going to marry him (she had always just laughed). She bit the inside of her cheek lightly and unconsciously looked at her chest over her heart. All these people she knew, dead. She couldn't help but feel like something more should be happening...

Her foot caught on something and she started, drawing a hard look from Dimentio. They both looked down; a tiny, severed, blue arm was lying on the ground, little, pudgy fingers splayed out, one hanging by a thread of muscle. It had clearly belonged to a child.

'That's kinda gross,' Danni sniffed, stepping over it and earning a slightly surprised look from Dimentio. '...what?' The god shrugged, stepping around the limb and continuing to walk, looking a tad more unnerved.

'Are you afraid?' the man whispered. She nodded slightly. 'Do not be. I am here.'

Suddenly, Dimentio spread an arm out in front of her, making her stop. He pointed ahead; a figure was hunched over, panting. She couldn't see what he looked like from here. 'Who's that?!' she gasped, and the king's exasperation was huge.

The figure shot up and Danni's heart skipped a beat. She took an immediate step forward, but a hard grip on her shoulder stopped her. 'Girl, step back.' He forcibly made her step back as he walked towards the figure; the girl's wide-eyed gaze never left him. 'You. Look at me.'

They locked gazes. For a moment she thought Dimentio was going to attack.

Instead, he crossed his arms and hovered a little off the ground. 'You aren't him...' he whispered. The figure just stared. 'No...you're...!'

There were a few seconds where the only noise came from the smoking buildings.

Then, there was laughter. Dimentio exploded into gleeful hysterics, his eyes alive with a bright viciousness. 'Ahahahahahaha!' he laughed at the figure. 'I know who you are!' he cried, misshapen teeth gnashed together in a wild smile. 'I know exactly who you are! And...' His laughter subsided. 'This changes _everything_.' He stretched out an arm. 'Now...take my hand. Rule with me.'

Danni was so, so confused. 'Um...what's going on here?!' she demanded.

Dimentio turned and looked at her. 'My dear...the game has _changed_.'


	19. Chapter 19: The Heart's Abyss

Chapter 19: The Heart's Abyss

Fawful

He was vaguely aware of someone shaking him. He didn't know who, or what, but they wanted him to wake up. They were calling to him, their voice a faint cry in the distance.

_'...ke up...!'_ it called.

Another voice, which he could barely discern from the first in his current state, called out to him too. _'...ake...!' _He couldn't hear all of it yet.

He opened his eyes, eyelids fluttering. Standing over him was a large man with an orange beard, huge, wide eyes, and a grin to rival his own.

'_WAAUGH!_' the Bean screamed, shambling to get away from whoever it was.

'Bah hah hah!' the man laughed. ''E's up!'

A cough came from elsewhere. 'I'm glad you're okay Fawful.'

Fawful felt a twinge in his chest as he remembered the events preceding his unconsciousness: the run from Dimentio and his monstrous people, the strange person who had aided them, and saving Rose.

The boy looked at the girl, who looked back at him. Fawful held his gaze and took in every detail: every strand of white hair, every speck of colour in her red irises, every limb and extremity. Every single aspect was part of what could have been lost. What _he _could have lost.

The thought was strange to him, but he really would have been crushed if that had happened.

Rose looked away and at their new companion. It was only when Fawful did the same that he realized that the companion wasn't new at all. 'O...O'Chunks!' he cried, climbing to his feet excitedly and smiling widely. 'It is being you!'

'Aye, it's me!' he beamed, showing his own mouth full of teeth. 'Thought maybe yeh'd forgotten about me!'

Fawful, unable to contain himself, jumped with joy. 'I have such gladness to be seeing you!' he cried. 'At last we are being reunited in adventure!'

'Tha's the spirit!' The man winked. 'Good teh see yeh too!' O'Chunks looked around him. 'Though I'd be lyin' if I said I've any idea where we are. Some sorta cave?'

'Oh...' He didn't know.

'We're in the world of this guy named Dimentio,' Rose answered, making Fawful cringe. 'He—'

O'Chunks frowned. 'Eh? What?' he asked, puzzled. 'I don't...'

What followed was the most uncomfortable conversation Fawful had ever had as he explained everything that had happened since O'Chunks' death. It turned out Dimentio had kidnapped him and used him to fend off Bowser before Peach's Castle exploded. He'd perished there. His reaction to hearing that Dimentio had succeeded in creating his own world was complete outrage; he roared a violent curse and punched a wall, sending cracks splitting along it. 'I have agreement,' the Bean muttered.

'I'll kill 'im,' he growled. 'I'll kill 'im for what 'e's done.'

'We'll have to find the Purity Heart first,' Rose said. 'And more spirits to bring back against him, like you and I,' she continued.

Fawful kicked a pebble with his foot. They were in a very large cave-like room, the size of an average hotel lobby. The ceiling extended upwards into darkness, up into the mountain. Along some of the walls were three doors, dark with the colour of the room's rock. The air felt funny; he realized it had been the same inside the temple where they had fought Hooktail.

This was the second of the Purity Heart's dungeons.

'What are these doors being?' he asked. 'Did you have examination?'

'We only woke up recently ourselves,' the girl replied. 'We haven't had any time. Thanks for saving us by the way,' she said to O'Chunks.

'Heh heh,' he chucked sheepishly. 'S'no problem! Anythin' for a nice lil' lady like yeh.' Rose giggled. 'Also, eh...' He addressed Fawful. 'What happened to yer arm?'

Fawful looked at his stump and wiggled it, still very queasy. He blinked a few times and squinted; he swore the arm had been there when he woke up. He had felt it and everything. 'Dimentio...had the removing of it,' he answered, to which O'Chunks only glowered and whispered another death threat under his breath.

Fawful walked up to a door and looked at it; it appeared to be a mirror, reflecting the image of the cave back at him. There was only one thing that kept it from being normal.

He wasn't on it.

He poked it tentatively; it seemed like a normal mirror in every way except for that. 'Oddness...' he murmured.

Rose walked up to him and peered in it; she didn't reflect either. 'What the...?' She pushed on it.

'Wha's goin' on now?' the Scotsman asked, walking up to them. The two youths jumped as O'Chunks' reflection stared back at them, their own still absent. 'Oh hey, yer not in the mirror,' he noticed, then grinned and waved at himself.

Rose walked away to one of the other doors. 'Do you have understanding?' Fawful asked O'Chunks.

'Nope,' he answered. 'No clue.'

'Hey, my reflection's in this one!' Fawful and O'Chunks walked over to her and found that they did not show in the mirror. Rose ran her hands through her hair, wincing as it parted painfully. 'My god, I'm hideous,' she sighed. She was covered in dirt and dust just like the Fawful, her hair stuck out in matted clumps, and she was bruised and scratched in a few places.

'I have disagreement,' Fawful snorted, then caught what he said and immediately started walking in the other direction when Rose turned to look at him. He walked over to the only unexamined door in the room and found his own messy, hurt body staring back at him. His eyes went back to his missing arm; it made him look so weak and pathetic. 'This one has reflection of me,' he told them.

'I guess that's one for each of us. These are doors, right?' Rose stared at herself nervously. 'Does that mean we've got to split up?'

The three of them looked at each other reluctantly. Fawful didn't want to leave them. He'd only just gotten respite, and he had only just seen O'Chunks.

'We've got teh do what we've got teh do,' the man sighed. 'That stinkin' clown's got teh be stopped.' That was something all three of them could agree on.

Fawful turned toward his door; his reflection stared back at him worriedly. He wondered when the last time he hadn't been worried was. Probably when he was working with Dimentio to kill Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser.

A lump grew in his throat; that felt like such a long time ago. Years ago, even. Now his allegiance had changed. Now he was working to save those whom he used to hate.

Pushing the emotional turmoil into the back of his mind for now, he forced open his door and stepped into the darkness that lay beyond it.

It shut behind him on its own.

O'Chunks

For a moment, he couldn't see anything. Pitch blackness obscured his vision, making him stumble and wave his hands in front of him in an effort to get a grasp on his surroundings. He felt dirt under his feet and could hear the soft tapping of the soles of his shoes on the earth.

A lantern light suddenly flickered into existence in front of him, and with it a single man and his own footsteps.

Behind him he was suddenly aware of many footsteps; he turned around and saw more men, enough that he couldn't count how many there were. Some of them held lanterns for sight, and all of them were clad in heavy armour, much like his own, and held swords, spears, hammers, or other such weapons, as well as shields.

He was suddenly aware of a helmet on his head that he swore he hadn't been wearing before, and a very large sword and shield that he was sure he hadn't been holding before he walked through the doorway.

_Whuzzat...?_

Where was he? What in the worlds was going on?

The men marched forward with stiff, methodic steps, each one in time with that of every other in front of or behind it. They were in a small, dirt tunnel, just wide enough for two people to walk beside each other, held up with wooden rods. O'Chunks' steps went out of time with those around him, though nobody noticed in the darkness.

A really bad feeling had begun to grow in his stomach. He swore he'd been in this same sort of situation before.

'General?' The voice was a hushed whisper, barely audible above the steps of the battalion. 'General O'Chunks, sir?'

The burly man started and turned a little too quickly to see the soldier who had addressed him. General? What? 'No disrespect sir, but are yeh all righ'?' The man spoke with an accent matching O'Chunks' own.

'Er...?'

'Yeh seem off, sir,' the man continued. O'Chunks noticed the man was speaking carefully, as if trying to make sure he didn't say anything that would get him in trouble.

_General..._ he thought, feeling himself growing more and more uneasy. 'Erm...could yeh tell me wha's goin' on around here?'

The man's expression turned to puzzlement. 'Uh...what?'

'I'm not exactly sure what yeh all're doin' is all,' he tried to clarify.

'We're...marchin' behind enemy lines usin' this tunnel?' the soldier responded quizzically. 'It was yer idea...'

O'Chunks suddenly stopped, causing the line to come to a confused halt and murmurs to rise from the men behind him. 'Wait...' the Scotsman said. 'What enemy is this, 'xactly?'

The man answered.

O'Chunks' mouth dropped in shock. 'Wha...no, no tha's not right.' He shook his head, unconsciously dropping his weapons on the ground, which fell with a clatter. The men before him were growing suspicious and perturbed. 'No, they alreadeh won,' he continued, beginning to tug lightly at his beard. 'We were betrayed by—'

'General O'Chunks...' the man in front of him said. 'I'm beginnin' teh believe yeh aren't fit fer the job...'

The faces before him suddenly sprang to his memory and he found he could name every single one. He clasped his hand over his mouth and stumbled backwards; he was looking at the army he had once commanded, before it had been decimated in one fell swoop by his closest advisor and friend. They were right in front of his eyes as if it had never happened.

But if they were here, walking across enemy lines...

Oh Grambi no.

'No!' he cried. 'We've got teh turn around! We're gonna be crushed!'

''Ave you lost yer mind?!' one man called, causing a ripple through the warriors.

'Get outta here!' he roared, pointing down the shaft, and froze when he found himself on the sharp end of a blade.

'I think...' said the man, his eyes burning holes in O'Chunks', 'that yeh might want teh get on the ground.'

'Wha...no!' he spat. 'I know wha's gonna happen and yeh've all got teh get out of here!' He began to push through the crowd.

The man slammed him on the stomach with his shield. 'Yep, I think it's time I took command. Yeh've lost yer rocker.'

A rumble echoed through the tunnel. 'RUN AWAY!' O'Chunks screamed. 'IT'S GONNA FALL! RUN!'

Cries rang out and were cut short; he could see the tunnel coming crashing down in the distance, dirt and mud rushing in to fill the long gap. The horrified man watched wide-eyed as his comrades were buried under the earth, the roof closing in on him and the scene disappearing as he spun out of control.

Rose

The fire light blinked into existence in an instant, the roaring of flames filling her ears and the scent of burning wood and trees in her nose. Her eyes stung against the sudden light and she threw her hands against her face and coughed.

She was in a village, which was burning to the ground.

She slowly opened her eyes; people were running in terror. Children and adults alike were sobbing. Wounded people were crawling, writhing, and screaming. Homes were turning to charcoal. Everything was engulfed in complete destruction.

She immediately took out her blaster and took off through the throngs of people. _I stepped through the door to get here,_ she reminded herself, moving around a flaming person. _These people aren't real._

It was nighttime; smoke curled up into the air and blotted out the light of the quarter moon, the stars invisible in the sky. To her left, a house crumbled to the ground, issuing sparks and ash, silencing the screams of a family trapped inside.

_Not real...not real...!_

She could feel fear creeping up her shoulders. Everything was so lifelike. Every sound was one she had heard before. Every smell, every sight. The people seemed alive. They crawled like humans. Ran like humans. Cried like humans.

Died like humans.

"HELP ME!" someone wailed into the air. A woman ran past, carrying a baby in her arms. A man wrenched at the door of a house, trying desperately to rescue someone inside who was calling out to him.

Rose forced back tears, holding the blaster like it was the last thing in the world she had. _Don't look at any of them,_ she thought furiously. _Don't look at the women. Don't look at the children. Don't look. They aren't real!_

An explosion roared in the distance and the sounds of splintering wood and shattering glass pierced through the din. What was causing all of this?

Someone ran into her and the wind was knocked out of her. In a moment she felt the ground beneath her and saw another person struggling on the ground.

'Rose!'

Her name banished all other sounds and she snapped her attention on the person who had called her. It was a boy. 'Who...?' she murmured.

Suddenly she felt his hands gripping her arm. 'We need to get out of this place!' the boy yelled, partly out of terror and partly out of urgency.

She saw his face, and a memory tugged at her mind. _Who...are you?_ she thought. _How do you know my name?_

'Rose, come on!' He pulled her to her feet and her blaster fell to the ground as she stood up. He looked at it quizzically. 'What...?'

She snatched it up. 'It's mine!' she snarled. No figment was going to steal her weapon. She immediately pointed it at him, letting it warm up. 'Who are you and how do you know who I am?'

The boy looked confusedly at the gun, looking to the left and right with a growing panicked expression. He scratched at his arm. 'Rose I don't know what you're doing but you need to get the hell out of here!'

'Who are you?' she repeated.

'Rose...it's me. David.'

It took a moment of silence to finally remember who he was. With him came his love and her friend, and then their friends, siblings, parents...

The flood of memories made her stagger and she lowered the gun, arms shaking. _Oh my god..._ she thought in shock. _This is..._ She looked around and every building was familiar again. _This is my home..._

Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran up and wrapped her arms around the boy. Back when she'd been alive they hadn't been exactly close, but now it didn't matter who it was. He was someone she knew.

'This...isn't the time!' he urged, the fear in his voice palpable.

Rose didn't care about anything around her. She wanted to tell everything to him. Everything she remembered from the afterlife. Suddenly winking into existence and realizing that there had been a period of utter lack of being. The fear and danger of dying again by the same one who killed her.

She tensed; this was an exact replica of that moment. He'd be here.

She let go and picked up her blaster. 'It doesn't matter what we do,' she sighed. 'Nothing's going to change.'

The teen boy frowned. 'I don't know what you—'

An explosion blinded them and Rose fell backwards. Laughter filled their ears; a mad, outraged cackle that she remembered clearly. 'I'm sorry!' she cried, and ran from David.

She didn't get far before her foot jammed under something and she fell to the ground again, wincing from the pain. She made her way up to her feet, and froze as a firm hand grabbed her shoulder.

The scene was happening twice at the same time: once in her memory, and once in reality. She turned to see the grinning, masked face of Dimentio, smeared with ash. He took a look at her and his smile grew. 'My oh my...' he whispered, his voice hinting malice. 'Aren't you a pretty girl?' He stretched out a hand.

She smacked it away with her free one. 'Don't touch me you monster!' she spat. The entire world buzzed around her, rippling as if made of water.

'Ah ha ha ha,' the magician chuckled. 'You look so much like her.'

'Like who?' Rose growled, gripping her blaster hard behind her back.

Dimentio raised his hand, magical sparks dancing around his fingers. 'A girl I once held dear. But no more.' His mask's grin closed, becoming a thin line across his face. Its eyes held a murderous excitement. 'Did you know I killed her too?'

'No,' the girl replied, raising her eyebrow. All fear of this man was gone, her weapon giving her stability. 'But that is interesting.'

Without another word she brought her blaster up to aim at his face and squeezed the trigger.

Light shone for a split moment and Rose heard the sound of deadly energy. Dimentio's neck was thrown back by the force, and the jester howled in pain and gripped his face; his mask glowed dangerously, seared by the blast, smoke trailing from it. Rose knew he wasn't real, and that killing him here would change nothing outside. The compulsion to punish some form of him, however, was too great. She walked over to him and looked at his writhing form, the mask burned black.

She shot him more than a few times more than it took to kill him, the world rippling and changing with every one. When the deed was done, the world went white around her.


	20. Chapter 20: Critical Moments

Chapter 20: Critical Moments

O'Chunks

O'Chunks felt grass beneath him suddenly. The sounds of his men's cries vanished; the collapsing tunnel was gone.

A tight knot had formed around his heart. He punched the ground, feeling the old pain of losing them the first time coming back and opening wounds he'd thought had healed completely. He wanted to say something, some sort of word or sound to express his sorrow, but nothing came. He just clenched his teeth and pounded the ground.

Why? He had already lost everything once, why was it happening again? If this was a Purity Heart's realm, why was it forcing him to do this? Why did it show him all of their faces again, bringing back memories of another world? Why did he have to watch them all die again?

'Such a pitiful man,' hissed a voice, corrupted by the reverberation of dark power.

O'Chunks recognized it immediately. His head trailed up to view the tall figure standing before him; clad in a glimmering white cape, which faded to a dark blue at the bottom, fastened with a smooth, red gem and possessing a large, flared out red and gold collar. A white-gloved hand grasped a jeweled sceptre, fingers curled around the shaft gingerly, and his head was covered in a large, white top hat. Two glowing, yellow eyes drilled into him intensely, one concealed by a silver-rimmed monocle. He regarded the Scotsman with a jagged smile, corrupted by the same glow that his eyes were.

O'Chunks couldn't believe his eyes. The man adjusted his top hat with his free hand, which he'd kept hidden under his cape. Beneath it, he saw a shimmer of stars. 'A broken and fragile man, weighted from the deaths of many men, murmured Count Bleck.'

'C...Count...' the man whispered inaudibly. It was him. The one man who had saved his life and given him purpose. Lord Blumiere. Count Bleck.

But...Blumiere had died. Why then...?

'It pains Count Bleck to see a man so defeated,' he continued, pacing. 'To have everything, and then nothing. Such is the way of the world.' O'Chunks couldn't speak; he could feel tears coming to his eyes and he forced them to remain unshed.

The Count, a far cry from the Blumiere that the Scotsman had grown accustomed to, suddenly turned to him. 'Do Count Bleck's words hold true?' he suddenly demanded.

'Wh...huh?' he yelped, beginning to feel frightened under his former friend's piercing gaze.

'Count Bleck has borne witness to your failure!' he said, his voice ringing with extravagance and passion. 'The deaths of one thousand men! Such cruelty! And...' He moved in closer, glowing eyes narrowing, monocle shining. 'The fault lies upon you.'

O'Chunks felt a blow like a hammer to his heart; he stumbled back, regaining his footing but not his composure. 'I...those men...' he stuttered.

'Those men are smears on the population of the worlds' deceased, roared Count Bleck!' roared Count Bleck. 'Imagine the sorrow their deaths shall cause! Imagine the endless sea of broken hearts their absences will tear asunder!'

The soldier was shrinking before his commanding power. He was right: each man had a family to go back to. Mothers, fathers, sisters, wives, sons, daughters...each one would be utterly crushed by the loss of them. Each one would cry themselves to sleep for a long time to come, wishing for a return they would never get...

'And...' Bleck's voice dropped to a cold whisper. 'You are the cause. It was your own failure to see the black heart of your friend which did this. Yes, I saw him,' he added as O'Chunks flinched; his friend, his closest ally, betrayed him and his men. He didn't know how much more he could take; his fingers were dug into the dirt, his teeth were clenched. The loss of each man was pushing down onto his heart and shoulders.

'What...' he whimpered, his voice quivering with sorrow. 'What do I do?' He clenched his fists, feeling the ground crunch between his large fingers. 'I've killed 'em...'

There was a long pause. The Count, wearing his smile as usual, paced more. 'Count Bleck gives his regrets,' he sighed, his voice lightly fluctuating and managing to somehow sound less threatening than a normal one. 'The loss of those dear to you is heavy burden, leading to pain and insanity.' The Scotsman just made a grunting sound, staring at the caped being. 'And by your closest friend...it is truly saddening. One should have the ability to trust those close to them. But no...he betrayed you, taking wealth for himself and leaving others to be crushed underneath.'

'I...I don't know what teh do!' O'Chunks cried, pounding the ground. 'It's 'opeless...'

He missed it, but there was a glimmer of satisfaction in the Count's eye. 'Yes...hopeless...' he murmured. 'However, declared Count Bleck!' He spun about to face him, his cape billowing and revealing a starry expanse of space underneath, shining with all the majesty of the galaxy. 'All is not lost.'

O'Chunks peered up at him. 'Wh...what...?'

'Count Bleck has too felt the pain of loss,' said Bleck, his eerie voice betraying grief. His eyes trailed away. 'He too has experienced the feeling of hopelessness and despair. That is why a plan has been put into motion.' He looked to the sky. 'These pathetic worlds, filled with war and decay! They are shadows of what could be. That is why Count Bleck shall erase them all.'

A memory flickered in O'Chunks' mind; he remembered this. This was the day the Count recruited him into his band of minions. He had promised him a perfect world...and he had accepted. Anything would have been better than more war. 'What do yeh mean...?' he asked tentatively.

'I am Count Bleck,' the dark man said. 'The champion of destruction! The chosen annihilator of worlds as foretold by the Dark Prognosticus! And it is I who will use its power to wipe away imperfect worlds and create a new one to shine in their place!'

Yes...he remembered that too. But if this was just a memory... 'Yer gonna destroy everythin'...and make a world with no war?' he asked again.

'That is correct,' Bleck answered. 'And you are vital to Count Bleck's cause. Your pain and loss will give you strength, and with it you shall see the creation of a world beyond comparison!'

The idea had been too good to be true. He had wanted desperately to change everything, even if it had meant wiping out everything first. Even now, he felt a compulsion inside of him to take the Count's hand again and swear allegiance a second time, maybe do some things differently, maybe succeed...

But he knew now that that wasn't how it was ever going to go. There was no chance for a perfect world. Not with Dimentio, he was absolutely sure, and not even with Bleck. The Count would destroy the world and leave it in ruins, fading away himself. That was all pain and loss ever did. Embracing it meant your own destruction, and O'Chunks was never going to do that again.

He stood up; his sorrow had faded, calmed by the revelation that those who had died were not real. In its place was a growing defiance of this fake Count. 'You wanna kill everythin'?' he spat. 'Not eh chance.' Then, he sucked back the contents of his throat and spat right in Count Bleck's face.

The world buzzed and shifted around them. The man stared in utter shock, his mouth hanging slightly askew, the jagged grin turned upside-down. O'Chunks' thick phlegm slid down his face, dripping onto his cape. 'You...' he breathed. His face contorted in rage. 'You _dare_ spit on the face of Count Bleck?! YOU _DARE_ DENY COUNT BLECK?!' He swung his sceptre and the Scotsman jumped back; the Count's cape flung outwards, trailing behind him. The well-dressed man was utterly irate. 'I AM THE DARK PROGNOSTICUS' CHOSEN ONE!' he roared, dark energy crackling around him. 'I WILL DESTROY ALL! _YOU WILL PAY!_'

O'Chunks clenched his fists. 'Don't even talk teh me,' he growled. 'Yer nothin' but a fake.'

'Insolence!' the man yelled. 'You will meet the same fate as all worlds!' He swung his sceptre and a blast of dark magic hissed through the air. O'Chunks jumped over it, charging at the illusion of his former ally. He brought a fist forward, grunting as pain shot into his knuckles; a barrier had been erected. 'You are not fit to scuff the shoes of Count Bleck!' the fake cried.

'Yer not the Count!' the warrior retorted, pounding the barrier as hard as he could. It shuddered under his blows before breaking completely. He threw another punch, spinning his body and adding force. His fist cracked against Bleck's head, sending him spiralling and snarling in pain.

'Bleck!' he spat. 'You are no match!' He drew a two-dimensional square around him and flipped out, appearing behind O'Chunks and in the air. 'Your brutish strength shall fold under my power!'

The armoured man cried out as another blast of darkness tore up the ground in front of him, throwing him back. 'Garblengh!' he sputtered. 'Take yer power n'shove it!' he taunted, jumping in the air and swinging his fists down upon the Count, who brought his sceptre up horizontally, blocking the attack. The air rang out with the sound of his magical barrier, which was unable to completely block the force; he hit the ground hard on the soles of his feet, grunting under the stress. As O'Chunks fell upon him, he swung his sceptre in an arc and released a wave of force; the Scotsman was pushed away. Count Bleck jumped in the air and shot at O'Chunks with the force of a bullet, smashing the man in the chest with the tip of his sceptre's jewel. O'Chunks felt the wind rush out of his lungs and he gave a deep gasp. The world slowed down for an instant and the feeling of a huge nail burying itself in his chest made his eyes bulge, then the world sped up and he was sent flying. He bounced along the earth, coming to a stop on his stomach.

'Bleh heh heh heh _heh heh heh heh heh!_' the villain cackled harshly. 'BLECK!' He swung his sceptre dramatically, making his cape swoosh. 'Your efforts to stop Count Bleck are in vain! The only hope is to fight at my side!'

O'Chunks rolled over onto his side, taking in shuddering breaths. 'N...ngh...not on me mam's grave...' he groaned.

The Count sighed. 'Clearly you are not the one the Prognosticus foretold, Count Bleck said disappointedly.' He shook his head slowly. 'This world will fall. Perhaps another world will bear the necessary fruit.' He pointed his sceptre at the man. 'Farewell, failed warrior.'

An expulsion of gas erupted from O'Chunks' posterior. 'GRAAAAAAH GOOGLY!' he yelled to the heavens, shooting at the Count with the force of a missile. His enemy's surprised exclamation was cut short as the burly man's body collided with that of Bleck's, who did not have enough time to protect himself; every cubic inch of the armoured Scotsman went full force against the dark man's unshielded body, and he screeched in pain as both men hit the ground and tumbled.

The Count grunted, throwing O'Chunks off of him and breathing deeply. 'This...is..._ludicrous_...panted...Count Bleck...' panted Count Bleck.

The other man rolled his shoulder, his joints popping loudly. 'Whew,' he sighed. 'I haven't worked this 'ard in...in a long time.' He punched his knuckles together. 'But I should be able teh go long enough teh beat _you_, Count.'

'Count Bleck shall not allow you to halt the destruction of all worlds!' he roared. He flipped out.

'Heh,' O'Chunks sniffed. 'I can do that too.' He drew up his own box and flipped out as well.

The world changed around him, taking on a quality that was completely and indescribably alien to him. It was like everything that made up him and the rest of the world had been expanded and changed to be fundamentally different, leaving him disoriented and unable to exist without feeling somehow less complete.

And there was the Count, moving through the altered space like it belonged to him. O'Chunks had never quite gotten used to it. 'Chunks away!' he bellowed, letting loose another gaseous burst and flying at his foe. This time Count Bleck was ready; he blocked the human rocket with the palm of his hand, holding O'Chunks' head with a death grip, and squeezed.

O'Chunks grabbed the man's arm, feeling his fingers pressing into his temples. He groaned in pain, trying to get his enemy's hand to loosen. 'Join your army in the Underwhere,' the Count hissed, the distortion of his voice making the tone many times more evil. 'Savour your aftergame before all ends at my hand!' The big man's feet dangled in the air; he was being held up by a supernatural strength. He couldn't break free, and the pressure on his temples was growing. Soon, his head would be crushed.

He reached with his long arms and grabbed the Count's shoulders. He drew up another two-dimensional box and spun them both around, picking up speed and not stopping until the world was an imperceptible haze around them. Then, abruptly, he stopped.

The vertigo was astounding. His whole body felt like it had been struck from one direction and his head involuntarily jerked to the right. He heard a noise from the Count and the pressure on his temples vanished, making him drop to the ground. Bleck fell soon after. 'How...?' he moaned, gripping his head. 'How can you bend dimensions...?!'

'I...' O'Chunks lurched. 'I got taught by the Count 'imself.' He got up, shaking off the dizziness faster than the Count could. 'An' tha's how I know yer not the real Count. I'd 'ave lost by now.' He grabbed Bleck's lapel and hoisted him up. 'An' tha's also why I can pound into yeh without feelin' bad.' He grinned, then punched the false Dark One in the face. His monocle shattered, burying itself into his eye. The Count screamed, his eye issuing black blood. The Scotsman brought his fist against Bleck's face again, making the blood leak from the sides of his jagged mouth.

'NO!' he cried. 'YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO COUNT BL-_EEEEEEH!_' His words were interrupted by another fist.

The world was shifting and buzzing. 'I think this is what the Purity Heart was tryin' to tell me,' O'Chunks said, dropping the Count on the floor and stepping on his discarded sceptre, the jewel cracking under his boot's metal heel. 'When yeh asked me teh join, I almost did it. I almost worked fer yeh again. But...' He cracked his knuckles. 'I think the idea was maybe teh think fer myself an' not be controlled by my heart. Tha's somethin' I need teh work on.'

'You...shall not destroy...Count...Bleck...' the man growled, panting.

Looking down at him, O'Chunks suddenly felt sad. Count Bleck was evil. He was cold. He was hateful. He was everything Lord Blumiere wasn't. He was nothing more than Blumiere's pain, twisted and formed into a person. He wondered if he had his own Count Bleck inside of him too. 'Don't think I wanna find out,' he grunted. He hopped high in the air and came down on Bleck's head.

There was no sickening crunch or splatter. The world vanished before the sound could reach his ears.

Rose

The smell of burnt wood was heavy on her sense of smell. No fires were burning. No people were running. She was completely alone.

And alone she walked, exploring her old home.

Even though the buildings weren't recognizable, she found herself envisioning them as they had once been in her head, resurrected from memories that had been buried away. Stores, homes, the market square. She could imagine all the people who would be doing business or just enjoying the day there.

She sighed sadly. She would never be able to come back to this, she knew. After beating Dimentio, how would she adjust? She knew now that there were countless worlds other than her own. Not to mention, she died once already and had spent god knew how many years in the afterlife. Thinking back to herself in that heavenly form made her feel very imperfect as she was. She wiggled her fingers; a large part of her beckoned for that afterlife again. It was different, and in many ways worse than her mortal life, but she felt that it would be many times better than the hell she was going through now.

She heard a crack: the sound of someone stepping on blackened wood. She spun around, blaster at the ready, walking cautiously towards the source of the noise.

Quick footsteps scurried in the distance and she immediately pursued them. She obviously needed to do something in order to get out of this place, and they must be the key. She avoided all the debris, trying to be as fast as she could. She wasn't going to lose this person.

They were fleeing out of the town. She followed, cursing the dress she wore. 'I'm not about to lose you...!' she muttered determinedly to herself.

The ground gave way to grass. She remembered a lake a ways away from the village that children often frequented when they were bored. It was safe, unlike certain other bodies of water that housed aquatic life that one would not want to exactly share a bath with. That's where the person was going, probably. It was the only place she could think of.

Suddenly, the footsteps vanished. Confused, she stopped and looked around. She hadn't been able to get a look at them, and she couldn't hear anything anymore. She continued, slowly, towards where she assumed they would be.

She reached it, walked over, and sat on its banks, tossing a stone in the water. She never went in the water, even when everyone else did. She couldn't swim, unlike most people, not to mention she never exactly had the self-confidence to display herself in front of a bunch of people anyway.

She tapped the blaster idly. She felt a lot more confident lately. It might have come at the cost of nearly dying all the time, but the thrill of battle was growing on her. She liked feeling powerful and in control. The blaster gave her the means to defend herself against foes, and it made her feel strong. That was something she never got to feel while she was alive, and not even after she died.

Maybe there was something positive to be said about this whole thing after all.

She saw a few splashes out in the centre of the lake and realized that there was a person floating there and tossing stones. She squinted, not really able to make out the figure in the dark. It floated there for a while, skipping stones, then began to float back towards the lake's edge. Rose held the handle of the gun tightly; she was ready for any confrontation.

'...don't understand why you're hanging around me, you silly kid,' the thing said. The voice was undoubtedly female. The girl frowned; she felt like she had heard it before. 'You don't talk much, do you?'

Rose crept away. Maybe if she could get far enough out of their vision she could sneak up on them. She could see what looked like a young boy clinging to the girl's back tightly. She wondered who they were. 'Still, I feel like I know who you are, somehow,' the girl kept talking. 'Maybe I knew you before I died the first time.'

'The first time?' It was the boy who had spoken. His voice was controlled, levelled, and deliberate. 'That doesn't make any sense. People can only die once.'

'Yeah, usually, but I'm not exactly a usual girl.'

'Are you a demon?' the boy asked bluntly.

There was a long pause from the girl. 'I dunno, I guess it depends on what a demon even is!' The two people looked at the sky. 'I wonder how long I was "erased" for. Where am I, even?'

'Near my home,' the boy responded.

'Nah,' the girl replied. 'This place isn't real. I can feel it. It's just an illusion.' That confused Rose. No one so far had expressed actual awareness of the fact that they weren't real. Why now?

'Created by a demon?'

'Why the heck are you so into demons?'

'They remind me of someone I really miss.'

These people didn't seem frightening at all. For some reason, she felt more afraid to go up and talk to them now than when she was sure they were enemies. She walked a few steps. 'Um...' she whispered. 'Hello?'

They both turned to face her. 'Oh, golly, someone else? I had no idea there was anyone else.' The girl with the boy on her shoulders waved. Rose waved tentatively back.

The boy tugged on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. She turned and began to walk back to the lake. 'Wait!' the white girl cried. 'I need to talk to you.'

'Then talk, sillyhead,' the girl said, her voice cheerful with an underlying tone that Rose didn't like. 'This kid just wants to see the water again.'

She walked up to meet her. 'Listen I...please, I need to talk.'

The girl turned around. 'Jeez, you're being awfully—' She went silent.

Even in the darkness it was easy to see: Rose was staring at an exact copy of herself. The shape of her face, the length of her hair, the curves of her body, even the colour of her eyes. Everything was exactly the same, with only one crucial difference.

'You're me...' Rose whispered. Suddenly it made sense: the familiar voice was her own, heard from another perspective. 'But...'

The girl frowned. 'Does the green skin rub you the wrong way?' The girl with the blaster reddened and turned away. The green-skinned clone of herself put the boy down.

'That's...I'm just surprised, that's all,' she said, trying to be loud enough to be heard.

The girl laughed. 'I'm surprised too! I mean, all of a sudden I just wake up in this weird place that I swear I've seen before, when I thought I'd be erased from existence completely. I guess the Void works differently than we thought.' She fixed Rose with an identical red eye. 'I think I can guess who you are. Your name is Rose, right?' The white girl nodded. 'I knew it!' her clone beamed. 'This means this must be an illusion of our home. And you...' She pointed at Rose. 'It's here because of you, isn't it?' She nodded again.

The girl turned towards the lake, looking at the boy at the water's edge. 'I found that boy wandering around. I have no idea who he is but I seem to remind him of someone, so I figured I'd stick around, be nice and all.' She ran a hand through her hair. 'I've got a bit of a history of being not nice.'

'Who are you?' Rose asked her. 'Why are you me?'

'Uh...' The girl smiled awkwardly. 'I think explaining things to you would be kind of overwhelming right now.' She sighed; her clone was probably right. 'Oh hey...that thing in your hand—'

'It's mine!' Rose snapped, holding it tightly.

'Whoa, settle down!' the other girl glowered. 'Don't be a dummy about it, I just wanna look at it for a second.' Rose extended her arms and the girl inspected it. A moment passed and her expression changed to excitement. 'Oh Grambi, it's not...' she whispered, her voice lighter. 'Hey, do you know someone named Fawful?'

'Yes,' she answered hesitantly. She knew Fawful? None of this made any sense! 'Why?'

'That means he's okay!' her clone cried. 'Maybe everything turned out all right after all!' She turned back to Rose. 'What about a guy named Dimentio? Do you know who that is?'

'We're...trying our best to kill him, actually.'

The girl's expression seemed to flash through relief, nervousness, and disgust, one after the other. 'Oh. I get it.' She turned away.

'Um...' Rose didn't like talking to people when they were unhappy, but she needed to know who this person was. 'What are you? Who are you?'

She sighed. 'I don't know what I am,' she admitted, her voice sad. 'But... ' She turned back to face her. 'My name's Mimi.'

'Mimi...' Rose repeated. 'Why do you look like me?'

'Weren't you listening the first time?' Her voice was layered with annoyance. 'I said you wouldn't understand.' She crossed her arms, looking back at the boy, who was coming back over to them.

'Oh,' he said, surprised. 'Hello.' He didn't smile; instead, his face was fixed in an expression of curiosity. 'You look just like her, wow. What's your name?'

'Uh...Rose. Yours?'

'I'm Thymol.' He looked her up and down. 'I like how you look too.'

Heat sprung to her cheeks. 'W-why, exactly?'

'You look a lot like my sister.' He took something out of his coat that he was wearing. 'I found this book a while back...then I died.' His face broke away into a shadow of fear. 'You have it, I don't want it anymore. It's a horrible thing.'

Rose took the book; it was dark and heavy, with a blue pearl affixed to both the front and back. 'That...' Mimi looked at the book. 'That's the Dark Prognostuh...that thing!' She turned to Thymol. 'How the heck did you get it?!'

'I told you, I found it. Then this person wearing a mask killed me and I woke up in this other place.'

The green girl eyed the book suspiciously. 'I don't think it's real. I think it's part of the illusion.'

'What should we do with it?' Rose asked.

'Blast it. Maybe it's the key to ending this.'

Rose put the book on the floor and aimed the blaster at the book. 'Wait, what happens to you if my illusion ends?'

Mimi shrugged. 'I dunno. At this point, I've already died like a bazillion times. One more couldn't hurt.' She giggled at her own humour.

Rose looked back at the book. 'I hope you turn out okay,' she said, then shot the book.

Fawful

The water of the Purity Heart's fountain lapped around him, cleansing his wounds and generally refreshing him. The mystical expanse of stars was spread out overhead, and the orb of light hung over top like a beacon. The hazy blue air purified his lungs.

What a peaceful place. A memory could never do it justice.

He turned to see Rose and O'Chunks picking themselves up off the ground. 'Oh!' he exclaimed. 'You have arrival at last!' He sat up and walked out of the fountain.

''Ey!' O'Chunks beamed. 'I see yeh've turned out all righ'!' He looked at Fawful's arm. 'Well...'cept for that o'course.'

The Bean turned and looked towards the fountain again. No matter how long he'd sat in it, his dismembered arm would not grow back. Perhaps it had something to do with the Chaos Heart's magic. 'And I am seeing that you also had right turning!' he replied.

'Yep!' A sad look passed over O'Chunks' face. 'Saw an ol' friend. Sorta.' He sighed. 'S'all behind me now though.' He punched a fist into his palm and grinned again.

Fawful turned to Rose, his attention focussed entirely on her. 'Fawful has hope that you did not have harm!' O'Chunks had already gone to sit in the fountain out of curiosity; the sounds of surprise at the water's healing powers made them both turn slightly.

'No, I'm all right. Uh...' She seemed troubled.

'What is making you have sadness?' he asked, his frown reflecting the sudden change in his mood at her face. 'Must Fawful have the fixing of anything?'

She backed up a bit and he wondered if he'd been a bit too eager. 'No, it's fine.' She smiled at him and he smiled back without a thought. 'I just...saw some things I wish I hadn't. And...' She looked at him intently for a moment, then looked away as if having second thoughts. 'Uh, yeah. I just wish I could have kept certain things as memories.'

'Oh. Fawful has understanding.' He nodded.

'What did you face, Fawful?'

'Eh?'

The girl was interested. 'What illusion did you have to go through?'

'Oh, um...' the Bean felt uncomfortable. 'Fawful...would prefer that that would not have discussion.' Rose hesitated, but nodded in understanding.

They both looked towards the fountain that O'Chunks was in. 'I'd better step in there before we leave,' Rose said, then looked at the stump that Fawful hated so much. 'It didn't heal your arm?' He just shook his head sadly. Rose hugged him and Fawful felt his heart do a backflip. 'I'm sorry you've been hurt so much,' she sighed.

'U-uh...' he stuttered. 'It is...being okay.'

She let go. 'Thanks for being so strong.' She smiled again and Fawful found it a bit more difficult to stand.

Stop it Fawful. This isn't how it's supposed to go. Rose isn't who matters that way. That was someone else. That was Mimi. 'Rose?' he called as she began to walk away. 'What did you almost have the saying of?'

Rose looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. 'It was nothing,' she replied. 'Just some weird things I saw that don't matter. Okay?'

Fawful held his gaze for another moment before responding, 'Kayo.'

After Rose had healed herself, the three of them climbed onto the fountain's top into the light above. Even the light couldn't replace Fawful's growing worry, though. Both O'Chunks and Rose had been presented with an illusion when they stepped through the door. Something that they had to overcome.

But he hadn't been. When he had stepped through the door, the only thing there had been was blackness. Then, he lost consciousness and woke up here. Why had the Purity Heart made them face something they feared, but he hadn't?

Was there something wrong with him?


	21. Chapter 21: Three Dimensions

Chapter 21: Three Dimensions

Dimentio

That Fawful and his two allies had succeeded in their second task set for them was made abundantly clear by the fact that nobody was on their feet.

Every single one of Dimentio's people throughout his world immediately fell down, landing haphazardly lying on the ground. They slumped back in their chairs, had their faces buried in the dirt, and awoke from slumber only to lose all awareness of who they were. Dimentio himself felt a pressure on his head and heart and the Chaos Heart cried out in pain. The magician swayed, forgetting for a moment what his name was. For five agonizing seconds, he stared around him in shock and confusion, then everything snapped back to him.

_'MAY THE VOID ITSELF TEAR APART THAT HEART!'_ the Chaos Heart howled. Dimentio was still dizzy; he put a hand to his head and looked at everyone who had lost their ability to stand. They stared blankly into space, all emotion on their faces lost. At that moment they were living, but not truly alive.

Then, as one, they started blinking wearily. Each one pulled themselves to their feet, muttering to themselves in confusion and bringing their hands to their hearts, staring at the floor or into their palms. They looked up at him, searching for an answer. Dimentio stared blankly back at them, unable to say a word.

'Your highness?' a person said, his voice dry.

The king grit his teeth. 'I believe,' he said, 'it might be time to _really_ begin trying to kill the boy.' They all waited for a moment, then started attempting to go back to what they had been doing prior to the incident.

'Woah...' Dimentio suddenly remembered Danni's presence. 'I feel...weird.' She rubbed the area over her heart and then looked at him. 'What's going on?'

'Fawful's influencing you with terrible magic,' he answered, scowling. 'He is making you experience _unnatural_ things.'

The girl ran a hand through her black hair, her eyes taking on a shade of the lifelessness they had possessed only a moment ago. 'Unnatural things...' she murmured. 'It...it feels _nice_...' She turned back to him and her eyes had filled with tears.

In those eyes Dimentio saw an expression that made his heart stop. It was love.

The jester yelled in rage and brought a fist across the girl's face. '_Enough!_' he roared, making faces turn briefly before they began ignoring the scene. 'I will not have this disgusting display of impurity, you ignorant girl!' Danni stared in fear. 'I created you! You will feel what I deem acceptable! _Nothing more!_' He turned away and left the girl lying on the ground, teleporting into the sky and flying away from his castle.

_'Things are...getting far too dangerous,'_ the Heart groaned.

_Fawful will die. It is inevitable._

_'You are __**losing control**__ Dimentio,'_ it continued, a dark edge to its voice. _'What if you are mistaken? What if this boy and his allies free the Purity Heart? What happens then?'_

'Then he will die!' the magician cried aloud, freezing where he was, suspended in the air. 'I will not allow him to kill me and ruin everything I've worked for for three thousand years!'

_'You were defeated once!'_ it retorted. _'I can see into your mind, Dimentio. You were defeated by the Heroes of the Light Prognosticus.'_

Dimentio clenched a fist. _I did not have the power I do now back then. Furthermore, the Heroes are out of the picture—_

_'I think not! They could clearly be turned and brought back!'_

'Fawful _will_ die.' It was difficult to keep the conversation in his own mind. 'I have multiple factors to use against him. I have _those_ spirits—'

_'Which could easily be wrestled from your control.'_

'—and I have _him_—'

_'Who craves power and whom it would be unwise to trust.'_

_It matters not,_ Dimentio thought bitterly. He could see a telltale pillar of light in the distance that marked the location of Fawful's completed trial. He snapped his fingers and the two spirits appeared at his sides. _I will never stop until he is dead._

_'Or until you are killed yourself.'_

Dimentio didn't want to think about losing again. His death at the hands of the Four Heroes had been one too many.

Fawful

Sparks flew, casting brief flickers of light throughout the night scenery.

'Are you sure you should be doing this?' whispered Rose.

'Yeah,' O'Chunks chipped in, concerned. 'Don't want anyone teh spot us.'

'Shut your mouths of annoyance!' the Bean boy snapped in a hushed tone. 'This has _necessity_.'

'But you're making light go every—'

The sparks stopped. Fawful turned and clasped a hand over her mouth, glaring at her intensely. 'Have sleep. Do not have the bothering of Fawful.' He waved the stump attached to his shoulder for emphasis. 'Unless you are wishing for me to have one-armedness for all of time.' He took his hand off her mouth and was met with a glare to match his.

'Fine,' she spat. 'You can get us all killed. See if I care. C'mon O'Chunks.' She walked away, with O'Chunks following after Fawful nodded after her. The boy returned to tinkering with his machine.

Upon returning from the mountain they had awoken amidst the plains and trees again. Thankfully the trees allowed for cover, and it was in them that they were hiding for the night. Hopefully his tinkering wouldn't burn them to the ground.

He surveyed the small mass of mechanical parts that was laid out in front of him. A number of guns had been halfway completed before he'd moved on to the next model, a framework for another of his Headgears had been crafted, and he'd been tinkering around with something completely new, trying to go by Grubba's old example.

He pressed a few buttons on his storage cube and took out a large vial. Inside of it was a sample of the water from the fountain in the Purity Heart's domain. The slimy Clubba had created a Dark Energy Bomb which had cost the group he had once been a part of one of their friends, as well as caused the demise of a very expensive train and all of its passengers. Perhaps he could do the same with the Purity Heart's energy too.

And then there was his current project. He'd been attempting to construct a mechanical arm he could fit into his shoulder, but mechanical prosthetics were incredibly difficult. He'd made robots and other such things before, but he'd never been dealing with living tissue and nerves before. So far only a rough exoskeleton had been constructed, and he was beginning to think he'd never be able to make one.

Trying to build things with one arm, even his dominant one, was hard as the Underwhere though.

He groaned and laid on the ground, staring at the trees. Things were a lot better for him now, now that he had some company. It wasn't long ago at all that he had been running for his life in Dimentio's world, alone and afraid. He remembered his moment of weakness and was grateful that his guide had been there to keep him from pulling the trigger on himself. Then he'd found Rose, and they'd found O'Chunks together. He smiled despite himself. Companionship was good.

He sat back up and stared at what was hopefully going to be a metal arm given enough time. 'Pah,' he huffed, grabbing a tool tightly and setting to work again. 'I have fury...'

Princess Rosabella

'Here you are, my Lady.' One of the false king's people, the one Rosabella knew went by the name of Hana, handed her her food. 'You must keep up your strength. The work you do exceeds that of us all.' The former princess gave a tired smile and accepted the meal. 'The king sends his...reluctant regards.'

Rosabella scowled. 'We nearly die together and he still holds his petty grudge against me.' She gnawed into a piece of the food, her words coming out in a very unladylike snarl through a full mouth. 'I can't believe he is so immature.'

'The Lord is just stressed, I am sure...'

'He isn't even _doing_ anything!' she growled, spitting out a chunk of food and making Hana recoil slightly. 'He just sits on his butt, ordering people like you around, while Fawful and Rose do all the dangerous stuff! Even _I'm_ out there while he's _here!_'

The woman's pale face flushed red. 'Now you be quiet right this _instant!_' she shouted.

The pink-haired lady's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. No one had ever spoken to her like that, save for her father. 'E...ex_cuse_ me?'

'I will not allow you to speak of his Highness in such a manner!' the woman spat. 'He is our greatest weapon against the demon who would seek to destroy us! He brought back _you_, if you will recall!' The woman had put down what she was holding and had placed one of her hands on her hip; the other was pointing dangerously at Rosabella. 'He allowed _all_ of us to be safe! Everything you have done, every idea that has been concocted, has been _his_ and will continue to be his!'

'You...don't speak to me like that!' The princess had gotten to her feet. She was taller than Hana by a significant amount, and her natural disposition only added to her powerful demeanour. 'I am of royal blood! You would do well to hold your tongue around me, you...you _peasant!_'

There was a moment of tense silence before Hana spoke again. 'You like to think you're somehow _above_ his Highness because of how he treats you as _lesser_,' she said slowly and angrily, her words deliberate. 'And yet, don't you do the same?' She turned and left without a word.

Rosabella felt like she'd been punched in the chest. _Peasant._ The word, said in her own voice, went through her mind. The woman had shown her kindness and loyalty, and she had thrown it back in her face. Was she really any better than the "king"?

She ate her meal in silence, then left to go find him.

She banged on the door she knew contained him, then shoved it open and closed it behind her. The man she had been revived by was staring at a mirror, his own reflection staring back. The curtains were shut, blocking the moonlight. Not a single light illuminated the king's bedroom. It was certainly extravagant enough. Chandelier, bed curtains, expensive-looking desk with ornaments, rug floor. The perfect place to relax, if that was what one wanted to do. Much like her old room.

'There are times when a man would prefer not to be disturbed,' her superior sighed, not moving from where he stood. His hands were clenched together behind his back. He seemed tired and sad.

She walked over to him and looked in the mirror with him. He looked tense; his face was contorted in guilt. 'What are you doing?'

'I am looking at who I am,' he answered. 'Staring into my own eyes and reminding myself just how much I hate them.'

Rosabella tried to keep the melancholy she was catching out of her voice. 'There's nothing to hate about yourself.'

'Is there?' The man spoke forcefully, staring at her. 'Look into them. Look at me.' He waved his hand and an orb of light appeared and illuminated his face.

His face. She knew what he meant. It was unmistakable. But all the same...

'There is nothing to hate in your eyes,' she said firmly. He stared at her for another moment, jaw set, then turned back to the mirror. 'How often do you do this?'

'Often enough.'

The former princess got up and drew up a stool. 'Here, sit down.'

'What?' The king looked at her wearily. 'No. Get out of my room, fool.'

She grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him over to the stool, sitting him down. 'Oh no, I'm not letting your stupid feelings get in the way this time.' The man made an angry sound, but otherwise didn't seem to be in the mood to resist. Rosabella knelt down.

She then lightened her grip on his shoulders and started massaging them. 'What the Underwhere are you doing, woman?' he sighed.

'You need to relax,' she said. 'This sort of thing really isn't that hard.' The king had begun to slacken slightly as he sat. 'You're not at all like him you know.'

'Dimentio is—'

'Hush,' she interrupted. 'You want to save the worlds. He doesn't.'

'But—'

'_Huuuuushhhhh_,' she groaned, tapping the back of his head and making him make another noise. 'No talking. Just let me do my thing.'

Beautiful silence took hold of the room and neither of them spoke for what felt like the longest time. 'Fawful might need guidance, you know,' the man reminded her.

'Fawful can wait,' she replied, and another stretch of silence followed.

Rosabella wasn't sure whether or not she was actually good at what she was doing, but she also knew that she needed to do _something_. The guy was either angry with her or depressed. This was just intimate enough that she could actually talk with him without crossing any borders. She hoped.

'I wish things could go back to the way they were before I died,' she said quietly. He didn't respond. 'It was all the Dark Prognosticus' fault,' she continued. 'That I was killed. Without it, none of this would have happened.'

'Can you really be so sure? Could he possibly have killed you without its influence?'

'I'm sure.' Her voice was adamant. 'He would never have killed me over something so insignificant as that puppy love.'

'Puppy love?'

'A lot changes when you're dead for millennia. Loves come and goes. Eventually I stopped caring. Being dead can do that to you, even as a Nimbi.'

He was shaking a little. 'In the end, your love for that prince didn't even stand the test of time...' he whispered. 'Dimentio killed you over a love that didn't even last...' The girl felt uncomfortable, but wasn't about to stop him from speaking his mind. 'All of the destruction your world suffered...it all seems so _petty_. So _insignificant_.'

'Some people can do really horrible things for really petty reasons.'

'Perhaps killing Dimentio will redeem me of mine.'

Rosabella hugged him. 'You've already been redeemed.' She stood up, smiling. 'Feel better?'

The man stood up and looked at her. He had a confused look in his eyes, as if he didn't know what to feel. 'Don't think this changes anything. You are my subordinate. You are not my friend. And you are nothing else, either.'

She nodded. 'I understand. I just thought you maybe needed to talk. I wasn't the nicest person just now...'

'I highly suggest you get out there and find Fawful,' he said, shaking his head. 'Whatever you did wrong can be remedied later.'

She nodded. 'Just...tell Hana I'm sorry.' She flipped out.

?

A shadow skated along the horizon, almost completely invisible in the night. It moved effortlessly, the weights of physical form nothing to it. Grass and plants parted as it landed, then bounded again with the wind.

It was following a signal. A beacon of light in this dark, claustrophobic world made of the Void. It shone brightly, invisible to the naked eye but plain as day to one who could see like it could. It required a being steeped in darkness, and a mind clear and calm enough to comprehend it. Its cohort, Dimentio, was far too preoccupied with things at times. Or, perhaps, he simply did not want to find the person who gave off such light. Both possibilities had merit.

Still, it surprised the shadowed being that someone such as the magician would rely on dimensional trails to follow this person, if his accounts of events up until now were to be trusted. She was a direct link to Fawful, and as such, wherever she went, he was certain to be near. Such a connection was invaluable for keeping tabs on him.

At this point, it knew from Dimentio what he knew about Fawful. The Bean had caused a lot of trouble for the aspiring god despite the massive difference in power between them. Still, the odds were that Dimentio was going to win. Particularly with it on his side.

Ah, there was the girl. She shimmered with a faint light against the darkness. Her dress moved with the wind, her light pink hair blowing softly across her face. She had beauty befitting of a princess. It was best not to get too close, lest it be seen.

It went in the direction the woman was facing. It was there the boy would be. The shadow continued onwards until it found a mass of trees, perfect for hiding in. Not from it, of course.

It glided through the tree branches, searching incessantly for the boy. A winged animal chirped loudly from a treetop; the shadow engulfed it, silencing its voice and ending its life instantly. A ripple of enjoyment passed through the being; power was incredible.

There he was. Green-skinned, bald except for a tuff of black hair on his head, spiraled glasses on his face, and dressed in a red cloak and black clothes underneath. He was hunched over a collection of pathetic-looking mechanical devices, half completed and made with all the impressiveness of a pickle sandwich. None at all. It made the being's own mechanical mind curl in distaste. It could make better machines with its eyes closed. Perhaps it would have to go toe-to-toe with the Bean's technology. That thought excited it.

Oh my. Fawful was missing an arm. The shadow supposed Dimentio must have gone a little magic-happy. How funny, the things the Bean had gotten himself into. It seemed that Fawful was currently working on a prosthetic replacement for the limb. Ugh, what awful work. At that rate he'd never get it done. He'd be killed by Dimentio in his weaker state for certain.

_'Perhaps the boy is in need of a little assistance. We can't have him dying just yet, can we?'_ No, that would be disastrous. Something had to be done.

The shadow left the area and prepared to return to the castle that Dimentio had provided for him. The magician would be able to provide him enough materials for whatever he desired. With any luck, it would have a present for Fawful within a very short time.

_'We must begin nudging them both along as is necessary. Otherwise, everything will be ruined forever.'_


	22. Chapter 22: Misplaced Devotion

Chapter 22: Misplaced Devotion

Mimi

Pain. Torment. Villainy. Redemption. Death. An eternity of blackness. Awaking in a dreamscape. Now she was alive again.

Her body was twitching, unaccustomed to the sensation of existing in a physical form after what felt like so long. Her green skin felt prickly and cold. A metallic taste coated her tongue. Her head moved sharply from side to side, each jerk making a sickening _crack _sound.

'Urk...' she groaned. Her throat was bulging outwards. 'N...no, I don't want..._uuuuurk!_'

A strangled gasp left her mouth as her six spider legs burst out of her neck, cranking her head one hundred thirty-five degrees. The legs flailed erratically, digging into the ground, pushing her small form around. _Craaaaaaack!_ Her head was flipped vertically now, her upside-down chin scraped with dirt. The legs straightened, dangling her jolting body above the ground only to collapse under the strain.

The half-complete transformation was causing her mind to mesh between normal and monstrous. Her sight was distorted, her voice was halfway between that of a teenage girl and that of a demonic child. Her head spun around uncontrollably and erratically; she shut her eyes to keep herself from getting more dizzy than she needed to be. A chime sounded out of nowhere, reverberating through the air, followed by an ear splittingly high frequency.

She tried scrambling to both her sets of feet, the divide between bodily movements making her do nothing more than roll around.

She laid still, curled in the fetal position, spider legs bent awkwardly. Her head was upside-down and her hands clutched the underside of her chin. She could feel her mind clearing and her body growing used to being alive. If she just waited, she would be able to stand in no time.

She turned her head back around and the spider legs disappeared; a puff of pixilated, purple smoke enveloped her and she was back to normal. Limbs wobbly, she tried getting to her feet; her arms wouldn't support her weight. She managed to stand up without the use of her arms, but fell right back over.

Mimi the shape-shifter stared up at the starry sky above her. This was a very human dimension, unlike the odd configurations that many other ones had. She thought back to her conversation with Rose, the girl who she had been created from. This was Dimentio's world.

'Dimentio's world...' she said to herself, and curled her tongue in distaste. 'He actually did it.' She turned onto her side, sighing and gritting her teeth. 'All that work and he beats us.'

She didn't know what to think of him. After all this time, she still clung to that memory of him. When she was off boy-hunting, he had impressed her with a display of affection. The white rose, the one she had kept and then destroyed. The smash of the Rubee on the floor rang in her head. After that, his tricks and usual annoyances had been easier to handle. She would still try tear him a new one every time he stole her diary, or replaced her shampoo with some random substance from another dimension, but knowing that he was capable of being kind made his other traits sort of...endearing.

And yet, he had done so many terrible things. Between betraying them, betraying _her_, and coming back and killing them all and erasing everything that ever lived, she had every reason and then some to hate him. He was a heartless monster and deserved to die and rot in the Underwhere for his crimes against everything that had ever existed.

Even after all of that, there was a little part of her that kept going back to the white rose. That one instance of goodness. No matter what Dimentio did, that was always there.

'Uuuuuugh,' she groaned, rubbing her eyes. 'I'm such a dummy.'

He was going to have to die. That was something she had known since they had begun their work to undo his damage. Even though she knew she had feelings for him, she had kept her head high and never doubted what the end result was going to be. Even if she cared about him, he was a danger to all of existence.

She rubbed her eyes again. At this point she felt like crying again, but she didn't. She had only just been brought back to life. She wasn't going to cry yet. She tried getting up once more, and this time she was able to stay on her feet. Giving her neck a final crack, she began walking.

She didn't make it far before she was stopped by men with swords.

'Halt,' one said. His skin, unlike many she had seen before, was white. The same went for every soldier there. 'Who are you?'

She stuck her tongue out. 'None of your business, creep,' she spat. 'Lemmie go.'

The man pointed the blade at her face. 'I would not recommend resisting,' he said, his voice controlled and militant. 'There is one of you, and many of us. You also seem to be quite weak. You can't even stand upright.' He was right; she was having trouble standing still, and was obviously still not in the best shape for battle. 'If you resist, we'll have to kill you. You could be an assassin sent by Dimentio to kill our king.'

Mimi's eyes widened. 'Your king? He isn't Dimentio?'

The soldier's eyes narrowed. Two soldiers stepped to his sides. 'Yes. Our king is going to kill the evil magician and save the world.'

The girl blinked, then slowly smiled. 'Sounds peachy!' she chipped, trying to seem as sweet as possible. Always make a good first impression. 'I'm excited to meet him!'

After a moment's hesitation, the soldier looked to the ones at his sides and they bound her hands behind her back. Mimi didn't resist. 'You try anything, and you die,' one soldier reminded her.

She bat her eyes, flashing a grin. 'Okay.'

Someone _else_ commanding subjects, someone who wasn't Dimentio? Suddenly things seemed a bit more promising than she had originally thought.

*Chaos*

'None can enter the room right now.'

The man scratched his head, black fingernails digging into his equally-black hair. 'That is the village's meeting room,' he said to the guards in front of the doors. 'We have always been entitled to that room.'

'We are afraid you are no longer entitled,' the guard explained, not breaking his stern expression. It was somewhat half-baked, as if only part of his effort was going into looking threatening. 'His Highness' acquaintance has ordered for there to be no interruptions whatsoever to his work.'

The villager's expression turned slightly angry. 'What work?'

'Important work.'

'I want to go in the room.'

'You cannot.'

The other of the two guards spoke up. 'If you do, we will have to stop you.'

In the silence that followed, heavy clanking could be heard inside the room. 'He is building something,' the second guard explained.

'What is he building?'

'We don't know.'

'Who is he?'

'We also don't know.'

The three men stood; the villager's arms were crossed, the soldiers both had their hands full with a spear. The guards looked at the villager, and the villager looked at the guards. 'Is this his Highness' acquaintance's castle now?'

'Yes,' answered one of the guards. 'He requested one, even one smaller than his Highness' castle.'

'I don't like this.' The villager's frown deepened. Anger and frustration was building up in him, but at the same time something else was keeping it from fully rising. 'I demand the meeting room be used as it always has.'

'No.' The soldier's pointed their spears at the man. 'You are going to have to leave.'

The man put on a snarl and left.

The two guards looked at each other. 'His Highness is losing,' said one. The other nodded. 'Do you still trust him?' He nodded again. 'I do too.'

They looked straight ahead, waiting for anyone else to enter the room. They knew their king would win, even if there were trials now. They loved their king.

Yes. They loved their king more than anything. Even if they didn't know what love was.

Fawful

Fawful sat on the ground, illuminated by a light he himself had built. It gave off heat equal to that of a fire, too, though it ruined the atmosphere. Still, it was very useful, was good for remaining undetected, and prevented him from being cold. Not to mention it also took away the risk of burning down the entire forest and killing them all. That was important.

He surveyed the mass of mechanical parts and intricate mesh of wires laid out before him. He had gotten the basic shape of an arm down, but it was definitely not going to perform to the standard of an actual arm. If he tried to use it in combat it would just slow him down. He would honestly prefer to just not have an arm there at all.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his only hand. This was never going to work. He was majorly disadvantaged, and against Dimentio and his monsters that was almost certainly going to get him killed. He put the stupid things into his storage cube and pocketed it. He couldn't do anymore tonight.

''Ey.' O'Chunks sat next to him, crossing his legs and planting his huge hands on his knees.

'Helloing,' Fawful greeted, wrapping himself in his red cloak.

''Ow're yeh holdin' up?' The Scotsman grinned. 'S'great to be alive, innit?'

'I have frustration,' the Bean huffed, bearing his huge teeth. 'The arm which Fawful must have building very soon does not have function!'

'Eh...I don't think I'd be much help there...'

'It has fineness,' the boy responded dismissively. 'It has difficulty to have intelligence like Fawful.'

The man glared at him. 'I come an' I jus' get insulted.' He got up.

'No, have stop!' Fawful shouted, then clamped a hand around his mouth. He shouldn't be that loud. 'I have apology!' O'Chunks sat back down. 'I just...I have frustration.'

'Aw, it's all righ',' the man responded with another grin. 'We all 'ave those days. 'Specially when we're tryin' teh build an arm outta stuff.'

'It just...it has difficulty! Even for Fawful.' He hung his head and wagged his stumpy appendage. 'I am not thinking that it can be done. I will have one-armedness forever.'

O'Chunks gave Fawful's shoulder a pat; the Bean winced from the pat, which was just a bit too hard, not that O'Chunks would notice. 'I 'ave faith in yeh!' he beamed. 'Yer real smart an' can do a lotta things that I couldn't even think o' doin'!' He gestured to the light. 'Like this! It's like a fire, but made o' machine parts an' stuff. I could never do that.'

He gave a half-hearted smile. 'Thanking you.'

They stared into the big bulb for a moment before looking elsewhere. It just didn't capture the attention like a fire did. 'Y'know,' the Scotsman said, 'the Count always wanted a perfect world. It was his dream. Tha's why 'e found me an' the rest o' the crew. I dunno what his world would'a been like. Maybe it'd 'ave been somethin' like this. I always imagined a world where we could all get along without wars. I used teh be a general, back in me ol' world. I think I told yeh before.' He rubbed his hands together. 'I killed a lot o' people, an' I almost got killed a lot too. It was really bad. Then someone like the Count comes along an' says yeh can make a perfect world an' yeh just do it without thinkin''. He shook his head. 'I dunno what I'm sayin', heh heh heh.'

'Fawful has had the hurting of many people,' he said. 'And...and I am not knowing why. I had thinking that villainy had excellence, but...if Dimentio is a villain, then I do not have certainty.'

'Makes yeh think, doesn't it? That maybe yeh made a huge mistake.'

'Mhm.' Fawful nodded.

'Well, yeh can always change,' the man said. 'I changed. Mimi, Nastasia, the Count...even that bloomin' turtle.'

'The Bowser?' the Bean guessed.

'Yeah! Even he changed, dependin' on what was goin' on. Yeh can always do stuff fer the better, an' the worlds'll always find a way of forgivin' yeh. Besides...' O'Chunks leaned in. 'Yeh've done purdy well, if I do say so meself.' He gave Fawful a light pat on the back.

'It is not being over yet,' the boy replied.

'Yeh got that right.'

After a few moments of staring at the lamp, Fawful fidgeted uneasily. 'O'Chunks, where is being Rose?'

'She's wanderin' 'round somewhere. Needed some time teh herself.' The boy made a worried noise. 'She'll be okay.'

'O...O'Chunks,' the Bean stammered. 'Uh...Fawful has wonderment. He is wondering if you could listen to him and not have betrayal of Fawful's secrets.'

''Ey, yeh can always trust ol' O'Chunks with a secret!' The man grinned goofily.

Fawful took a breath. 'Okayo. I have wondering how to deal with feelings.'

'...eh? What sorta feelin's?'

'Um...' Fawful felt himself go hot. 'The feelings which are warm and fuzzy, like...like...' He couldn't find a good enough simile to describe them.

'Wait...like bein' in love?' Fawful made an uncomfortable murmur. 'Well I dunno, I haven't had much luck with 'em meself...who yeh pinin' for?'

'...Rose.'

O'Chunks' mouth dropped and Fawful buried his head in his cloak. '...oh. Eh...huh.' The Scotsman scratched his head. 'I always thought...y'know...'

'Whating?' The mangled word was muffled by the Bean's cloak.

'Nevermind, jus' me bein' thick again, heh heh...' He coughed. 'Well, what do yeh wanna do?'

'I am not knowing what you are meaning.'

'Well do yeh wanna like...be with 'er? Do yeh wanna jus' watch out for her?'

'Fawful is thinking that...he would like to know what she is thinking of him.' He took off his swirled glasses and cleaned them on his cloak.

'Why don'tcha just tell 'er then? She'll hafta let yeh know after that.'

'But that has difficulty!'

'Well yeah but...what else are yeh gonna do? Either one o' yeh could be killed, y'know, bad as that is.'

A chill crept up Fawful's spine. 'That has truth...'

'I never told the fine lass I had feelin's for what I felt. I jus' kept 'em to meself. An' now...I'm not exactly sure I'm proud o' that. Maybe yeh should jus' go for it.'

'Mhm...yes, you have correctness!' The Bean jumped up, grinning widely. 'I will have the doing so!'

'Tha's the way teh do it!' The burly man beamed, pumping his fist. 'Go get 'er!'

'Yesing! I have getting!' He marched off, leaving O'Chunks alone with the artificial campfire and his heart filled with determination and vigour.

Rose

Rose wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to keep her body warm in the night time chill. She had found her way outside of the forest and was out in the open fields. The moon shone brightly, providing a figure of hope for her in the darkness. She didn't like the forest. It was good for cover, yes, but it could also hide enemies. Even though it was night, she much preferred being able to see everything around her more easily.

She sat on the ground and pulled her knees up close, savouring a moment of peace and relaxation. Nothing to climb. Nothing trying to kill her. Just her and the stars.

That debacle at the mountain changed a lot of things. She and Fawful had a new companion in that huge man named O'Chunks. She wasn't sure what to think of him at first. He was so huge and imposing, and could probably break every bone in her body with a single punch. After only a few minutes, however, all that went away. It was clear to her that he had a heart of gold, and she was so glad he could be here. If Fawful tried anything, he'd protect her. If anybody else tried anything, he would too. She knew that she would protect him too. They were allies. That was way more obvious than it was with her other companion.

Fawful...her mind went back to that moment where he saved her. Where, the moment he knew she was in danger, he completely decoded the portal arrangement and swooped in to save her. He didn't need to. She wasn't strong. She wasn't skilled. She couldn't kill Dimentio. Not like he could. She wasn't useful at all to him in the grand scheme of things, but he went out of his way to save her life all the same. She remembered that look he'd had in his eyes. That wasn't a look that a truly bad person could have. Maybe he'd been a villain before Dimentio had changed his life, but he didn't seem like it now. He took up the call.

She smiled. Maybe she'd been wrong to judge him before. Maybe he could be her ally just like O'Chunks could. Maybe they could be friends. That would be nice.

'Such a beautiful night out, isn't it?'

She turned around and almost got a shriek out before a hand clasped her mouth hard. Silhouetted against the darkness was unmistakably the one behind it all: Dimentio.

He lowered his mouth to her ear. 'Hello. Beautiful evening, isn't it?' His voice was low and came out in a dark hiss. 'I dare say it is one of the best I have ever seen. Ahahaha. Of course, it is _my_ world, so why wouldn't it?'

'Mph mmphh!' Rose's words were muffled by his black-gloved hand. She drew her hand back to punch him, but he put a hand near her eyes; magical energy buzzed from it.

'Ah ah ah,' he said, a wide grin on his face. His grey and yellow eyes, the latter one enlarged to an unhealthy degree, reflected her terrified face. 'I wouldn't do that if I were you! We wouldn't want your pretty little face to be so _tragically_ tarnished.' She stopped. 'Now...' he whispered, and parted two fingers, allowing her mouth to be free. 'What is your name?'

'R...Rose,' she breathed, her voice shaking.

His smile twitched. '_Why_ am I not surprised?' He let go of her. She took a deep breath and backed away, but couldn't take her eyes off of the glowing hand. 'I do hope you understand the position you are in, _Rose_.' She nodded. 'Excellent.'

Her heart was pounding, her whole body was shaking. She had a weapon, but couldn't hurt Dimentio. She could call for help or run, but she'd be killed instantly. What could she do? 'Wh...what do you want with me?' she asked, her voice shaking so much she could barely get the words out.

'So glad you asked!' the king said, floating around her, his eyes never leaving her. They bore into her with an intensity she had never seen in another living being. Behind those eyes was a hatred the likes of which she had never experienced. 'You see, it has come to my attention that you are being guided by a certain individual. A man of considerable intelligence and anonymity, who is influencing you through a girl who follows you, like a starved dog on a medium-rare steak.' Rose nodded again, not trusting herself to speak for fear of attracting attention. 'What I require her for is something I cannot accomplish, and thus I ask of you this.' He leaned in close, staring straight into her eyes, a hand closed tightly on her shoulder. 'Find her, kidnap her, and bring her to Fawful.'

'What?' She forgot her fear momentarily. Why in the world to Fawful?

'Are you really in the position to question me?' He wagged his finger. 'Do what I say, girl, or your game over shall be slow and agonizingly painful. If your actions please me...I might just leave you alive.'

'No...I can't!' she exclaimed. 'I can't betray any of them! They're—'

In an instant a hand was around her mouth and she was bent over backwards, head to the floor, with Dimentio floating over her. 'Are you so sure you trust your friends? Do you truly believe that they can kill me?' He squeezed her cheek. 'Poor girl. So full of hope. Go on, take a shot or two. Try and cause my demise. You know you cannot. How can they?'

Her life was flashing before her eyes. Both of her lives. Her death, too. In this moment, up against Dimentio, she was utterly helpless. She couldn't do anything. She could die.

She was going to die. The thought terrified her more than anything ever had. She didn't want to die again. She couldn't die. Tears were streaming down her face.

She couldn't die again.

Slowly, she nodded. He removed her hand from her face. 'I'll...I'll do it,' she sobbed. 'I'll find her and get her to Fawful.'

'Perfect!' Dimentio did a flip in mid air. 'And remember, if you fail to go through with it, I will know.' The smile he flashed scared her more than any angry face. 'Oh, and let's keep this chat between us. Two collaborators keeping a wonderful secret!' He winked. 'Ciao!'

A _ping_ rang out, and he was gone.

She knelt on the ground, breathing deeply and fighting back sobs of terror. Why? Why did this happen? She should have stayed in the forest near Fawful and O'Chunks. He wouldn't have found her. Or maybe he would have, but at least then she'd have stood a chance.

He wanted her to get that girl and bring her to Fawful. Why? Did it have something to do with why she refused to reveal herself? Was there something she didn't want to know?

Was there something Dimentio knew about her that they didn't?

...why didn't she trust them with her identity, anyway? Why didn't the man? What weren't they telling them? Was Dimentio...trying to _help_ them? No, that couldn't be right...

Could they trust anybody?

'Rose?'

She jumped. 'Fawful!' she yelled, clamouring to her feet. 'Oh my God, what...what are you doing here?!'

'Uh...I had wondering where you were!' the Bean said, fidgeting. 'You had the wandering off and I had confusion.'

'I'm here now, it's okay!' She shivered. 'Uh, we should...probably go back to O'Chunks. Maybe sleep a little, I'm so tired.' Her heart was pounding. 'C'mon let's go.' She walked past him.

'Uh...waiting!' he said. 'I...Fawful has something to tell you...'

'I can't...' She shook her head wildly. 'Fawful I need to sleep I'm sorry.'

'No, Fawful cannot have the waiting any longer!'

She spun around. Couldn't he just let her go?! She couldn't deal with this right now! 'What, what do you want to tell me?'

'Fawful...Fawful is...'

'Just spit it out!'

'...Fawful has love for you.'

Rose's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened. No. Not this. Anything but this. Not now. 'Wh...what?' she stammered. Please let him have meant something else.

'Fawful has love for you!' he repeated, taking a step towards her. 'I have love!'

'No!' she yelled. The Bean recoiled in shock. 'No, you can't!'

'Wh...but...but it has truth!' he said, his voice wobbling.

Her heart hurt at the tone in the boy's voice. 'I don't care!' she exclaimed. 'It...it's impossible!'

'Whying? Why does it have impossibility?!'

'Because...I _don't_ love you.' She blinked rapidly; this was so hard. She wanted to blurt out exactly what happened. She wanted to explain everything, to tell him that he _shouldn't_ feel that way, but she couldn't. If she did, Dimentio would kill her. So she kept it to herself. 'I don't love you Fawful. You're my ally. You're...my friend. But you can't be anything more than that to me.'

'O...oh...' The Bean went slack; his arms hung by his side and his face was turned into a heartbreaking expression. 'I...I am seeing...'

'I'm so sorry Fawful...' She hugged him tightly. 'I'm sorry I couldn't...'

'...release Fawful.'

She let go and backed away quickly. 'Fawful...'

He turned around. 'Come. O'Chunks will have worry.' He walked towards the forest again. Rose hesitated for a moment, then began to follow, keeping a good distance between them.

She wiped away tears. She was going to help Dimentio do...something, and she just broke the heart of one of the people she could trust. Meanwhile, Fawful and O'Chunks didn't know a single thing that transpired. They were going to trust her, and she was going to squander it all.

She was a horrible person.


	23. Chapter 23: A Distant Admirer

Chapter 23: A Distant Admirer

Mimi

Mimi's hands were bound around her back with rope, a blindfold put over her eyes. The soldiers maintained a brisk march at her sides, with one man holding her shoulder tightly. Around her was the chatter of citizens looking at the strange girl with the green skin and hair.

And the really adorable dress, which reminded her of her pressing need to somehow get another one because one could never own enough dresses.

The general mood of the populace did not seem very happy. There was a lot of fear that Dimentio would invade and kill them. Whoever this king was who was fighting against him obviously made the danger of being discovered very clear.

'...lot of new people I've never seen before...'

'...some of Dimentio's tricks?'

'...don't think so, these people seem very nice...'

From what Mimi could gather, beings were showing up left and right out of nowhere, creatures that had never before been seen in the world who were just as intelligent as human beings. She didn't know the complete situation, but she thought it was likely that these were people just like her who had been "erased" by the Void and had been somehow called back into existence. They were just winking back into reality, slowly and at random. This knowledge sparked more hope inside of her. If Fawful was still alive and fighting, and more people were coming back, then maybe Dimentio's plan wasn't so perfect after all.

The soldiers suddenly stopped and Mimi felt the one holding her shoulder give some sort of gesture, probably a salute or bow. 'My Lady,' they both said respectfully.

'Who is this?' a woman asked. Her voice sounded very familiar.

'We found this assassin—'

'I'm not an assassin, stupidhead!' Mimi cut him off, snarling. 'Stop calling me that!'

The girl gave a little shriek as she was butted with the shaft of a spear. 'We found this _girl_ lying around out in the wilderness. She looked suspicious, so we took her into captivity and are going to present her to His Majesty for judgement.'

'Ah...are you sure she poses a threat? A lot of foreign beings have been appearing as of late, in both Dimentio's kingdom and ours.'

'One can never be too sure, my Lady.' The "Lady" gave a murmur of agreement.

'Has she given you a name?'

'I'm not allowed to talk, _ow!_ apparently!' the green girl hissed. 'I _tried_ to be good.'

'What is your name, then?'

'I'm Mimi,' she replied. There was no response from the woman.

'My Lady?' one of the guards asked. 'Are you well?'

'I hear you're trying to beat Dimentio. I know a lot about him, so maybe I could help you?'

There was more silence. The guard tightened his grip on her shoulder. She really wished she could see what was going on. 'Bring her to his Majesty,' she replied finally. 'I'll go on ahead and alert him of this girl's presence.'

'As you wish,' the soldier not holding onto her replied.

Mimi gave an exasperated groan, which earned her another butting from the spear.

?

The "king" was floating around his throne room, rubbing his hands together nervously.

'Oh dear,' he whispered. 'Oh my.'

He sat down on the top of the throne. Sweat fell down the sides of his face. He wiped it away with his sleeve. 'So many worrying things. This is not pleasant at all.'

So many things were developing. People were winking into existence all over the place. Creatures from other worlds. People, dazed and confused and scared. People who had no homes and nobody to turn to. 'Such a disturbing turn of events,' he continued to muse worriedly.

He didn't know what to do. The number of dimensions that had once existed was uncountable. The world that Dimentio had created couldn't possibly hold all of them. What would happen if they all came to be? How could this dimension sustain them?

Worst of all, this opened the possibility of meeting _certain people_. People he knew. People he had hurt in his past. He didn't want that. He wasn't sure he could take their accusing glares and words. He was already trying to take down a homicidal king wielding the second-most powerful artefact that the multiverse had ever seen. He didn't need an army of people who wanted to kill him too.

He wanted to just fade back into obscurity after all this was done. After Dimentio was killed...he wasn't sure what he would do. Maybe he would just live out the rest of his natural life in a dimension tucked away in a deserted corner of reality. Maybe he'd just kill himself, with no more purpose to him. Become a Shayde, or a Nimbi, or something that could make him unrecognizable. Whatever he did, he didn't want to face anybody he knew. That would be too painful.

And then there was the other information he had collected upon his examination of the dimension itself. The two trials that Fawful and his cohorts had faced was weakening the very fabric of the world. It had become so easy for him to see now. The way the dimension was woven into the rest of the Void...it was weaker. But it was still there. He now knew the purpose of the trials, but with that knowledge came disturbing implications that he was loathe to see happen.

'Hello?'

The king turned. 'Ah. Rosabella. Such a _surprise_.'

She shut the doors to the room behind her. 'There's no time for this now,' she huffed nervously, brushing off his aggression. 'There's something I need to tell you about.'

'Likewise,' he replied, raising an eyebrow. 'Is there a problem?'

'It's...not so much a problem, per se, but...' She fidgeted nervously. 'Somebody from outside of the dimension has been found, and she wants to speak with you. As such, I highly suggest you conceal yourself again.'

He floated down from the throne. 'Why ever so? What danger could she pose to us?'

'She...could be an assassin or spy of Dimentio's. It would not be a good idea for you to be seen by her.'

The man narrowed his eyes. 'Is there something you aren't telling me, "Princess"?'

'Please just trust me.' Her eyes pleaded with him. 'You need to not be seen.'

He sighed and snapped his fingers, making a cloak appear around him. 'I am not sure what you are so afraid of, but if I must.'

There was a knocking on the door. 'That'll be her and the soldiers who found her,' Rosabella said.

'Let them in.' He was suddenly eager to see who this mysterious girl was.

Rosabella opened the doors and gestured them inside.

Striding down the hall, blindfolded, bound by the wrists, and escorted by two armoured soldiers, was a young-looking girl with green skin and hair. It was the girl he had seen at the sides of others. Men, one woman, and Dimentio himself had known her, and through them the king had seen her, and fallen for her.

The guards bowed. 'This is the prisoner we found,' one said. 'We have reason to suspect that she may have been sent by Dimentio to kill you.'

The man at the throne was dumbstruck. He took a step backwards and fell into his seat, eyes wide. 'She...' He looked at Rosabella, motioning for her to speak for him, then made a motion with one of his hands.

'His Highness wishes for you both to leave the room,' she told them. They bowed and left.

Hands trembling ever so slightly, the king snapped his fingers a few times and felt a strange sensation in his throat. 'Girl,' he said. His voice was drastically changed; it was distorted, sounding like no voice that could be naturally made. 'Remove your blindfold.' He snapped his fingers, cutting apart the rope that bound her fingers.

She took it off and looked around the room. 'Wow, big place you've got here. Makes Merlee's Mansion look like a little doghouse.'

He stood up and walked down the steps before his throne. 'I am sure.' He drew his hood further up over his head. 'Who are you?'

'My name's Mimi,' she answered, putting her hands on her hips. 'Who are _you?_'

'Forgive me if I am not quite so forthright about my identity, Mimi. Secretiveness is of the utmost importance when dealing with an invincible foe.'

'Right, Dimentio! I know him!' Her face lit up. 'I can totally help you beat him!'

'What do you have to offer me?' the man asked. He already knew exactly what she had to offer him, but it would be better to pretend otherwise.

A wicked smile crossed her face. 'Tee hee!' she giggled, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. When she reappeared, a perfect likeness of a masked, jester-garbed Dimentio stood before him. 'I'm a shapeshifter! I can throw him off and be someone who's close to him.' Hearing Mimi's manner of speech come out in Dimentio's voice made the man chuckle. She assumed her normal form. 'I don't know who you are...but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and if he can't know who you are then that's okay.'

The man turned around, arms crossed. 'I can see you could be of use.'

'By the way,' the green girl asked. 'Is anyone else fighting against him other than you?'

'Indeed. A small, green, large-toothed boy who goes by the name of Fawful—'

'I knew it!' Mimi shouted, jumping up into the air. 'He's alive! Dimentio didn't kill him!' Rosabella gave the man a confused glance.

'Clearly you and Fawful have quite the history with Dimentio. Another man is travelling with Fawful as well. A large, meaty brute named O'Chunks.'

This earned another outburst from Mimi. 'Wow, everyone's coming back! What about Blumiere or Timpani? Nastasia? Or Mario or Luigi?'

'I am afraid none of them have been found,' he answered grimly. 'But searching for influential spirits has become priority now. Their link to life is growing stronger. It is likely they will be found before long.'

'How about I start by looking for them, then?' she suggested. 'If you've already got Fawful and O'Chunks fighting against him, I can do other stuff.'

'That sounds...reasonable. However, I suggest you first spend some time with my...cohort.' He gestured to Rosabella. 'If your alignment truly is against Dimentio and the Chaos Heart, it is possible you can use the Purity Heart's power to bring back the spirits. Practice will be necessary.'

Mimi examined Rosabella. 'Hey...I know who you are! You're that girl Dimentio killed, aren't you?' A brief flash of pain went over her face, which caused an uncontrollable tightening in the king's chest. The green girl smiled. 'I'm glad you're alive again!'

Rosabella gave a small smile back. 'Thank you Mimi.'

'Now that that is settled...' the king said. 'If you would leave the room, Mimi. Rosabella and I have something more we must discuss.' Mimi waved and left.

The man collapsed into the chair. 'Goodness,' he groaned, lowering his hood and rubbing his face. His voice was back to normal. 'Of all people, why _her?_'

'The universe seems to have a way of giving you the people that are closely entwined with you,' the former princess said. The man gave a grunt of indignation.

'Don't get too close to her. Be wary of the powers the Purity Heart grants her here. Her knowing your identity cannot be helped.'

'I will.'

The man rubbed his hands. 'This could be a serious problem. Having two instances of the same person running around at the same time.'

'Huh?'

'Rose and Mimi are technically the same person. Rose died, and Mimi was born by creating an artificial soul from the remnants of Rose's. Having the souls of two people alive at one time which are interlinked with each other could spell disaster for at least one of them.'

The knowledge weighed heavily upon them both. 'What was it you wanted to tell me before?' the princess said worriedly. 'Nothing worse than this I hope...'

The king maintained a moment of silence, rubbing the arms of his throne. 'It...concerns Fawful.' He sighed. 'I have examined with great scrutiny the makeup of this dimension. It is clear to me that the Purity Heart rests in a realm which cannot be reached by physical hands, and one that Dimentio and the Chaos Heart have taken care to lock off from us. These trials that Fawful and the rest of them have had to face are a part of the Purity Heart's method of counteracting this. With each trial completed, the hold they have on that realm weakens. The very makeup of this world unravels just that much more. Soon, it will be time to take the Purity Heart from that realm.'

'How will you do that if we can't reach it physically?'

'Fawful is the most powerful link the Purity Heart we have, as he was with it at the beginning of this world. As such, he is the one who must get it. It will lead him to it.'

'You...still haven't told me how he's going to be able to actually _get it_.' Rosabella was getting anxious. 'What is he going to have to do?'

The king stood up and walked into the middle of the room. He faced the door, his hands behind his back. 'Fawful will complete the trials and then be lead here. We will bring him into the castle, treat him like the hero he is.'

'And then what...?'

The king turned around and met the princess' gaze, his eyes intense. 'And then, we will kill him.'

*Chaos*

A low hum reverberated across the sky; a small, metal flying saucer flew to its predetermined destination, programmed in by its maker. Extending from the bottom of it was a claw, and in its grip was a glass container housing a shining, steel arm, somewhat small in size, each joint perfectly placed. It lay powerless in the claws of the saucer.

The arm was a gift. A well-intentioned correction of a handicap imposed upon a poor Bean boy by Dimentio, and given to him by the jester king's new genius ally. Why leave him so broken and pitiful against the invincible god? Why not give him something to help him along?

Besides, it wouldn't be good if Fawful died too soon. His survival was necessary. If Dimentio killed him quickly, then all would be lost for him. He needed every advantage if he was to survive to the necessary time.

The forest, mere specks of trees on the horizon, reflected off of the saucer's enormous optical receptors. Yes, that was what was needed. Fawful must survive. Only when the moment was right...only then could he die.

The saucer dropped off the arm in the dirt, then flew away, back to its master. All that was needed now was for the boy to take a leap of faith, and use it.

Fawful

The sun was rising. Daytime had come again. As Fawful awoke from his short slumber, the heartbreak of the previous night made him wince. He grit his teeth, refusing to let himself be sad.

It was fine. She didn't love him. That was okay.

Perfectly. Fine.

She was nowhere to be found in their camp. Good. He didn't want to see her anyway. O'Chunks was snoring away beside him. He turned around, wrapping his cape around him. 'I have fury...' he whispered.

A few minutes followed of him trying to get back to sleep. He didn't want to do anything today. The fate of the world could wait on him.

The enormous Scotsman grumbled. 'Nyarglebargle...' he snorted. He got up and stretched. 'Hey ho!' he beamed. 'Mornin' to yeh all!'

Reluctantly, Fawful sat up, rubbing the dust from his eyes. 'Morning of goodness to you,' he muttered.

'So, 'ow'd that thing with yeh-know-who go last night?' He wore a grin. 'Betcha wooed her somethin' good eh?'

The Bean fixed him with a nasty glare. 'Your happiness disgusts Fawful!' he spat, hopping up and beginning to gather his things furiously. 'Disgusts him like angry pickles on a sundae of sweetness!'

O'Chunks lost his smile. 'Oh...sheesh...' He had a crestfallen look. 'The lass said no?'

'You just have understanding _now?_'

The man sighed. 'Sorry teh here that, lad...if it makes yeh feel any better, I never had much luck with this sorta thing meself.'

Fawful put the lamp into his storage cube. 'And,' he growled, clenching his fist, 'I still cannot have completion of this arm of dumbness!' He kicked the arm's skeleton hard, spraying mechanical parts everywhere. O'Chunks covered his face from the debris.

'D...don'tcha think yer maybe bein' too hard on yerself?' he offered. 'It was only one night...'

'Fawful has had the building of _ten times_ this in times which have passed!' he raged. 'Stupid, stupid Fawful! Stupid like wrinkly raisins that are dumb!' He stomped on a larger piece, savouring the crunch of metal under his foot. 'And...and I...tried to have happiness in this world of evil, and...' He growled again, pulling at his tuft of hair. Grabbing his blaster tightly, he stood up, an intense scowl on his face.

'Where're yeh goin'?' O'Chunks asked to the departing Fawful.

'It is the same as usual. Have coming.' He hissed out the words. He would turn his sadness into fury, and then Dimentio would feel his wrath.

'What about the lass?' Fawful shrugged. 'Are yeh sure yeh don't need some time alone or somethin'?'

'Time alone will not make Dimentio have death,' the Bean responded.

'Guys?' Rose came into view.

'Ah, there yeh are!' the man beamed.

'I...' At the sight of Fawful, she looked at the ground. 'I found something. It was just lying around, and...'

'Where?' Fawful asked curtly. Rose pointed, and the three of them went into a clearing.

It was a glass container, topped with a gold lid which had on it a ring, possibly to hold onto. Inside the container was a metal arm, smaller than average. Each joint was made from overlapping pieces of metal, allowing for them to move with relative ease.

'It's...an arm?' O'Chunks said, confused. 'But...wha?'

'I don't know how it got here...' Rose told them. 'But...you were making an arm, Fawful. I saw it.'

'Hm...' Fawful stared down the object with suspicion.

He needed an arm. That much was obvious. Try as he might, lacking his other one was a serious problem. But...was this the way? He had no idea who it came from. It could have easily been Dimentio.

'Maybe that mysterious guy built it?' the girl offered. 'The one who's helping us? We don't know exactly what he can do.'

'I am not thinking so...he would have had the contacting of our minds,' the Bean responded.

All three of them regarded the mysterious package. 'Is...is it worth it?' Rose looked at Fawful's missing arm. 'You'd be stronger if it works.'

Hesitantly, the Bean walked over and pried off the top. He reached in and removed the arm, putting it on the ground. It shimmered in the sunlight coming in through the leaves above. He moved each individual finger; they had the dexterity of real ones. He put the end of the arm, covered by a plate, to the end of his stump; it was the exact length of his other arm. It was made just for him. He took off the plate; fine wires fell out of it, and parts which acted as the bones could be seen.

It was perfect.

A piece of paper fell out of the inside of the arm. He opened it.

_"A present, from a distant admirer." _A picture of a grinning face adorned the little letter.

'There's...something else in the glass.' Rose held out another object; a handle to something that was concealed by a leather cover of some sort. She removed it; it was a large blade, sharp to the touch.

Fawful looked to the blade, to the arm, and then to his stump, and came to a horrible realization. He dropped the arm, instinctively covering the spot where his missing one was cut from. 'No!' he cried. 'No no no no no, this has badness!'

Rose and O'Chunks pieced together what needed to be done. 'Bloomin'...!' The Scotsman silenced himself. 'Are yeh gonna...gonna do it?'

The Bean was horrified, but he couldn't make up his mind. He didn't want to do it. He didn't want to go through the pain. But...he was one-armed. Even with his dominant one he was at a severe disadvantage. If this thing — even a thing that's origins were unknown to him — could work, it could save his life. Someone, somewhere out in the Void could have been brought back and made it for him.

After a long pause, he swallowed his saliva and answered. '...yes.'


	24. Chapter 24: Flesh and Steel

Chapter 24: Flesh and Steel

Fawful

The Bean could feel his body beginning to shake as he surveyed the operating table. It wasn't so much a table as a haphazard arrangement of metal slabs held together with screws and welded where screws failed. Curved, padded clamps stuck out from the top, meant to fit over his limbs and torso to prevent any movement, and there was a bundle of fabric up where his head would rest.

Leaning on the side was the blade provided with the arm. It was sharp; O'Chunks had accidentally cut his finger while handling it. It would get the job done.

Fawful shuddered. The job. Cutting open his appendage and attaching the arm. The nerves would attach to the wires and the veins to the tubes, allowing for sensation and blood flow to the rest of the body. The arm was immaculately made, and ran entirely on the electricity provided by his own body, which was something that there was no way Fawful himself could ever do. He wondered who made it.

He had briefed O'Chunks on the job. He would cut the end off of the boy's stump and quickly attach the tubes, which would hook onto his veins, to keep him from bleeding to death. Then he would handle his nerves (Fawful shuddered again) and stick the wires directly into them, allowing for a connection. Then the arm would have to be welded onto his own body. The whole process was an absolutely terrifying ordeal, but it didn't seem like he had much choice.

Rose was pacing. 'This is going to be bad,' she sighed. 'This is going to be bad bad bad.'

Fawful nodded. 'But it has necessity,' he told her. 'O'Chunks, do you have readiness?'

'Yep!' he replied. 'I've killed lotsa lads before. This inn't anything new.' Somehow that didn't ease the Bean's nerves.

They all looked at the metal arm. 'Are you sure you want to go through with this?' Rose asked him.

Fawful remembered the recent events with Rose and gritted his teeth, trying to turn his anguish into determination. 'Lord Fawful has no fear.' His false bravery was apparent, however; his voice was shaking.

'Well...' she muttered.

'Welling...' Fawful said.

'Well...' O'Chunks sighed. 'No point in puttin' it off, eh?'

Fawful nodded and climbed onto the table; even through his pants the metal felt cold. He ran his fingertips along the top and picked at a screw. He did not want to go through with this. Not at all. Fighting against every instinct in his body, he laid down and spread out his arm and legs. The metal was freezing against his bare back. 'Okayo,' he said, his voice grim. 'Have clamping.'

Rose and O'Chunks fastened the clamps onto the table. As much as the pads made them more comfortable, they still felt tight against his arms, and the sides of the clamps dug into him. He put his head down onto the rags, getting himself as comfortable as he could, and they fastened the last clamp around his head.

He was completely immobile.

O'Chunks picked up the blade, making Rose make a pitiful noise. 'Maybe...maybe we should give him something to bite onto...' she offered, her voice trailing off after every sentence. 'Muffle the...the screaming...'

'Yeah,' the Scotsman said, nodding. 'Yeah, that sounds good. Yeh got anythin' else in yer cubey thing?'

'Yes...yesing,' Fawful told him.

O'Chunks fiddled around with the cube. 'T'was a right good thing I spent some time with that Mr. L guy,' he said. 'Technology was 'is thing.'

'Fah,' the Bean spat. Luigi, a mechanic? That was impossible to believe.

The man walked over with another collection of cloths. 'Bite on these 'ere things,' he instructed. Fawful chomped down; the fabric tasted terrible.

The Scotsman raised the blade and looked over his missing arm. 'Yeh ready?' he asked.

'Mph mph,' the Bean replied, hoping it would be understood as a highly, highly reluctant affirmative.

'Oh god,' Rose whimpered, turning away and covering her ears. 'I can't watch.'

O'Chunks took a breath and positioned the blade over his stump. 'All righ'...' he said.

'Mmmph mph mph!' Fawful said through the contents of his mouth. Have coming on already!

The man dug the blade into his arm.

Searing agony exploded up his arm and into his shoulder. He clenched his eyes shut and grunted, breathing heavily and groaning.

''This inn't like killin' the enemy...' the Scotsman muttered, and brought the blade back, cutting further into Fawful's arm. The Bean jerked in his locked position, pressing his head against his makeshift pillow. His arm throbbed, pain wracked his entire body. Fawful screamed, the noise muffled by the cloths but still loud enough to make his two allies' faces contort in pain at the sound. O'Chunks kept cutting, harder and more precise, deeper down his arm.

Oh god the pain. Stop the pain. He could feel his arm throbbing, the blade's coldness cutting off his thoughts. He jerked and struggled, biting hard on the fabrics and yelling through them. Tears streamed down his face. He could feel blood leaking from the wound and out of his body, dying the steel crimson. Rose was muttering to herself in an attempt to block out her friend's sounds of agony. From the sounds of it, it wasn't working.

The enormous gash at the end of Fawful's stump was slicked red, the muscle tissue was frayed and the end of a vein leaked blood with every heartbeat. O'Chunks' face was set, his teeth were grit, and his eyes were fixed on the task at hand. He muttered apologies under his breath, every writhing motion the Bean took reflected in the warrior's face. The pain was becoming unbearable; once contained in his arm, it wracked his entire body. His chest convulsed; he turned his head to the side and heaved, a little bit of vomit leaking out from the side of his mouth.

The pain enveloped his head and he blacked out. For a second before it happened, he was sure he died of blood loss. Moments passed with no sensation or thought.

He came to again; to his absolute horror, O'Chunks hadn't finished while he was out. Another sawing motion had brought him to his tendons connecting the muscles to the bones. A number more painful, cutting movements and he was at the bones themselves.

As the blade cut back and forth, a horrible grinding sound could be heard. Sharp metal through bone turned all of their stomachs, and Rose's words to herself increased in volume. A few horrible cracks made the Bean lurch again in both disgust and agony. One last snap and the bones were cut through.

'Jus' the lower part left,' the Scotsman said encouragingly. 'Jus' a lil bit more!'

'JUST..._CUT_...' Fawful grunted through the cloth and pain.

The lower portion of his arm was more agonizing than the upper one. Now the blade was cutting through the cluster of nerves under his arm, and through the debilitating anguish Fawful knew he had never experienced this sort of pain for as long as he'd lived. The only thing that surpassed it was death itself.

A gross squishing sound accompanied his slab of arm falling onto the table. 'There,' O'Chunks said, panting slightly. 'Tha's that.' Fawful was still biting hard on the cloth, painful aftershocks of the removal of part of his body pulsating across it. The cloth had soaked in some vomit, and the Bean was left to taste the disgusting contents of his own stomach. His throat burned. 'Now...' The man picked up the metal arm. 'Gotta jus'...put these 'ere...' He took one of the tubes of the robotic limb, grabbed one of Fawful's veins with his finger and thumb, and put them together. He pressed down on the end of the tube, pushing it in and closing miniscule clamps into the vein itself. It closed the gap perfectly and the blood began to flow through the tube and out of another one. He repeated the process with the other veins and tubes; the arm was connected to his body by threads. 'Now yeh won't bleed teh death,' the Scotsman sighed, wiping an arm across his brow. Fawful was in too much pain to respond with a snappy retort. The sensation of blood suddenly flowing correctly was bizarre and strange compared to it spilling out onto the metal.

'All righ'...' the burly man continued. 'These...' He held a wire, its tip pointy, inspecting it. Then, he grabbed one of Fawful's nerves. The boy's eyes bulged in their sockets and he made a noise like he was choking on his own tongue. O'Chunks jumped and let go of the nerve; the Bean jerked his head from side to side, banging the back of his head off of the pads between the table and him. His teeth were tearing the cloths apart. 'Sorry, but I've got teh do this...' the man groaned, grabbing the nerve and trying his best to ignore the boy's pain and movements. He stuck the wire into the nerve, then grabbed a small device and closed it around where they connected. Methodically, he did the same thing with the other nerves and wires. Despite the connection, Fawful could feel nothing in the arm.

O'Chunks pushed the robotic arm against the stump, making the Bean cringe and moan in grief. 'How're we gonna attach this?'

Fawful spat out the cloth. 'W...weld...' he reminded him.

'Uh...' the man said nervously, looking at the arm.

The boy groaned, not in any position to speak. 'F...Fawful's cube of storage...' he panted.

'Rose!' O'Chunks called. 'Look in that there...cube-y thingy n'see if yeh can find somethin' we could use teh weld 'is arm to the arm!'

'...what?' the girl asked.

'_BAAAAAAH!_' Fawful snarled, and barked a quick description of an object at Rose. She fiddled with the cube with shaking hands while the Bean yelled instructions on how to use the foreign machine. It took a number of tries, with the majority of the cube's contents strewn about on the ground, but before long she had what they needed. O'Chunks pressed the arms together again, told Rose to keep them there, then turned on the device. A flame came to life and he put it to where the arms met.

The boy screamed, unhindered by the cloths, at the searing hot pain at his arm. He took his dominant limb and bit hard down on it, muffling his cries. Rose's eyes were crammed shut, all of her effort put into keeping her hands still and the limbs together. The Scottish man moved the flame around his arm, the skin bubbling and blackening, the metal glowing red hot and melting, flesh and steel mixing together as one. The process dragged on forever, the welding moving at an awful crawl.

After a time, it was finally done. Fawful writhed on the table, his stump twitching erratically, the metal arm lifeless. The boy breathed heavily, his whole body shaking, the metal arm caked with blood which stuck to the table.

'Is...' Rose whispered. 'Is it over?'

'Aye,' O'Chunks affirmed. 'T'is o'er.' Fawful whispered a few words of relief through his sounds of dulling pain. 'Can ye' move yer arm?'

Fawful tried moving his arm, pushing through the pain it brought him; the living arm moved but the replacement did not. He felt nothing in it. The Bean shook his head, leaning back on the fabrics under his head. 'It has uselessness...' he sighed, the sentence ending in a defeated whimper.

'Do you think maybe...' the girl spoke up. 'Do you think there's an... "on" switch or something? Like on the blasters?' The Bean shrugged, a somewhat difficult feat given that one shoulder was weighed down by a metal limb. Rose inspected the arm, making a disgusted face at all the blood. 'There...seems to be a button here. Should I press it?' The Bean just huffed, breathing heavily. The ghostly girl pressed the button.

The pain Fawful felt when O'Chunks was cutting through his arm felt like nothing compared to this. A powerful shock arced along his shoulder and immediately coursed through his entire body. A howl was cut short, half of the sound leaving his mouth before it was abruptly cut off, leaving the Bean to spasm and feel every single bit of the all-encompassing torture with barely a strangled gasp escaping his lips. Suddenly, the feeling of having a left arm took hold of him, and all the pain receptors in the robotic limb demonstrated their effectiveness. The arm jerked, its unclamped wrist flailing wildly, making Rose cry out and fall backwards to avoid being struck. Fawful's teeth dug into his lower lip hard, trying to do something to deal with what he was feeling.

Then, slowly, it faded to nothing. The metal limb suddenly felt lighter on his shoulder. He moved its wrist freely, flexing its fingers. It felt just like a normal arm. He had complete control over it.

It worked perfectly. A broad smile crossed Fawful's face. 'Oh, happies!' he beamed, the idea of pain completely leaving him. He tugged at the clamps and O'Chunks and Rose undid them. 'Happy meatballs on sad pasta!'

'Urgh...I'm gettin' hungry...' the Scotsman murmured.

Fawful moved every portion of the arm to its full capacity and was amazed just how well it worked. He ran his other hand's fingers along its length; he could feel every sensation as if it were his own skin. He tapped it, and despite the muffled clang of metal it was like hitting a normal arm. There was still a throbbing in his arm, and his lip was bleeding from where he bit down on it. O'Chunks was also on to something: he was very hungry. He marched over to his storage cube and took out a Super Shroom. 'Yum!' he proclaimed.

'Er...are yeh sure yeh should be eatin' tha—' Fawful ate the Shroom before he was done. '—when yeh've got tha' metal arm?' he finished.

The wounds on Fawful's body sped up their healing process. Thankfully, the unhealed, fleshy stump mended itself taking the arm into account. 'This arm...' the Bean said, smiling his huge smile. 'It has amazingness!' It was even the same length as his other arm. Everything was perfect.

They spent some time disposing of the table, which they dumped unceremoniously out of the way in a hidden location. No sense actually trying to destroy it when they had to get moving. They washed the blood off of the Bean's arm and torso. 'It really does act like a real arm...' Rose observed. 'Who do you think made it?' Fawful shrugged. 'I think I'd like to know, eventually.'

Fawful put his shirt and cloak back on, put everything that the girl had ejected from the storage cube back in, and continued to move his new limb. One of the stranger things about having the robotic arm was that he could not flex anything, as it lacked muscles. He could still easily grab things with it, which was the point. 'Okayo,' he said.

'Time teh go?' O'Chunks asked. Fawful nodded.

_'Hello.'_

Everybody jumped. _Um..._ Fawful thought in his head. _Hello?_

_'It's me. Your guide.'_ For some reason the disembodied voice sounded...off. _'Our progress to the next destination has slowed somewhat. What's been going on?'_

The boy moved his new fingers. _Fawful has had an arm of robotics attached,_ he answered. _Dimentio had the injuring of Fawful, and now it is fixed._

_'I...'_ The voice seemed confused. _'I don't know what you're talking about...'_

The Bean noticed that Rose especially seemed agitated by the voice. _Perhaps you shall be seeing,_ he told her.

_'Perhaps. I think we should probably get a move on. You're in the forest near me, correct?' _Fawful confirmed it. _'Then we should be hurrying on. Dimentio could strike at any moment.'_

_I have agreement,_ Fawful said. 'Let us commence walking,' he told his allies.

As they made their way out of the forest, the Bean heard O'Chunks speak behind him. ''Ey,' he said. 'Yeh doin' all righ' lass?' He was talking to Rose. Fawful kept his gaze forward. 'Yeh look outta sorts.'

'No...I'm fine,' she replied, a worried note in her voice. 'It's just...weird having someone speak to me in my mind.'

Thymol

The young boy trudged along the unfamiliar landscape, dragging his feet along the ground. His arms hung at his sides, his eyelids drooped. He was tired, lonely, and lost. That weird-looking girl he'd met in his empty town was gone, and he certainly wasn't back home. He didn't even remember much from before..._that_ moment. The portion of his memory where everything went utterly blank for a moment. Before that...he vaguely remembered a world of clouds and angelic beings. Before that world was his entire life. He'd had a family, and acquaintances he'd enjoyed spending time with.

He'd had a sister as well. If you could call her his sister.

Red-haired, beautiful, and utterly repulsive at the best of times. She'd always had a way with men, and used it to have her way with them too. Given what she was, it was a fact that he'd needed to get used to, as horrifying and disgusting as the fact was. He wondered where she was now.

A knot tightened around his chest and he made a pitiful sound. Panic surged up in him and he could hear his breaths rise in intensity as he remembered what happened to his home. So much fire and death. And in the end...

_'Oh, what have we __**here?**__ A little boy, far from home?'_

He was shaking, holding onto his sides. He had been so scared. He'd clutched onto that book he'd found. God damn that awful, awful book.

_'Is that book dear to you, child? That wonderful, prophetic book? It is dear to me too.'_

That masked face. That twisted smile. That voice that haunted his nightmares in the afterlife.

_'You know, it pleases me that you cherish it so. It means I can take all the more pleasure when I rip it out of your dead hands! Ahahahahahahaha!'_

Thymol was curled up on the ground, sweating bullets. He hated thinking about that. He'd never felt more fear in his life.

_Breathe..._ he told himself, cutting off the memory. He closed his sides, relaxed, and breathed quietly, like his mother had taught him to do. The panic melted out of his body, and he stood up.

'Oh, what have we _here?_' Thymol wailed and stumbled over, and when he turned onto his back he found himself staring up at the most hideous person he had ever seen. His face was blue and completely deformed, but the voice that came out from his lips was what scared him the most.

'You're...!' he gasped, trying to push himself away with his hands. The memory was coming back. The man before him was the one who had killed him and took his book.

'Oh? Have we met before?' The...thing raised an eyebrow.

'You killed me!' the boy shouted.

'You'll have to be more specific than that,' the man responded with a tone that was not at all joking.

'You...you destroyed my village and killed me and took my book!'

'_Oooooooh_ yes, now I remember!' The thing floated around him, running a finger across his shoulder. Thymol jerked away. 'Yes, you're the brother of that horrid succubus, aren't you?'

'You...you know Esmine?' His chest tightened. 'What did you do to her?'

'I'm afraid the story is far too long to indulge a useless young boy in.' He gripped him by the shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. The boy's heart was pounding with fear. 'I would kill you, but that would make you far too able to be found again, so I'll drop you off at my ally's abode instead. I'm sure he'll treat you as the most _esteemed_ guest imaginable!'

He let go and flicked his wrist; Thymol was lifted suddenly off the ground, making him yelp. 'Wh...what are you?! What do you want?!'

'I've got no time to waste on tedious stories with children,' the monstrous humanoid said. 'I've got some important business to attend to.' A wicked smile passed his face, showing off all of his ugly teeth. 'I've got a rather splendid show to watch. A battle of the ages! Ahahahahaha!'

He snapped his fingers and the terrified boy felt his stomach lurch as the dimensions distorted around him.

Fawful

Fawful was silent for most of the time they spent travelling to their destination. O'Chunks tried talking to both him and Rose, but she was also as unresponsive as he was, so he soon gave up. A pit was still in the Bean's chest about his rejection, though he had to admit, having his arm sliced open and painfully attaching a robotic limb to it put it into a bit of a better perspective.

A bit.

The Bean spent some time wondering why Rose was as quiet as he was. She hadn't spoken much when she had first been revived, but she hadn't been this quiet since. It was possible she was simply broken up about having to say no to him. That was probably it.

Their guide was in the distance too, still too far away to make out. They hadn't been close enough that Fawful was able to see her, with the only exception being the first time they seriously spoke, before Rose had been revived. She had mentioned that he mustn't ever interact with her for the safety of her and her superior, but what safety could that possibly be?

His neutral expression grew a little darker as he pondered this. What in the world was she hiding from them? Who was this mysterious man who was guiding their actions? Who would be powerful enough to oppose Dimentio? Why could they never see him? Fawful hoped he would be able to meet this person before the end of his adventure, regardless of how it happened.

_'Fawful!'_

The Bean jumped. _Yes?_

_'Oh my, sorry,'_ their guide apologized. _'I just...wasn't getting a response for a while. I was worried something had happened.'_

Fawful frowned. She couldn't reach him? _Nothing happened._

_'Okay. We're almost there, I think. The Purity Heart's energy is getting stronger. Incidentally, this should be the final one. Then you can finally meet me...and him, too.'_

_Oh!_ he exclaimed in his mind, the news bringing a small smile to his face. _I have excitement!_

_'Yeah...me too.'_ For some reason, the voice sounded somewhat sad.

Their pace increased once they could see their destination. Made of the same stone as the building they fought the dragon in, it was more of a shrine than anything. The area was large and square, enclosed by a stone border adorned on the corners with pillars topped with hearts. A gateway served as an entrance into the shrine. Fawful could see steps rising up from the entrance, though what was at the top he could not see. An archway towered over the walls, built in elegant, spiraling stone.

Their guide was nowhere to be seen. _'That's the place,'_ she told them. _'I'll leave the rest to you three.' _At that, they marched beyond the gateway.

The shrine was very large in size, and tall. The stairs extended upwards, ascending to a peak where the archway stood over the shrine's true treasure.

They climbed the steps quietly, the patter of their feet against the stone the only sound in the place cut off from the rest of Dimentio's world. When they reached the top, they found the treasure: a single, closed door, made of the same ornate stone, leading to nowhere. Given the mysterious properties of these places, it likely lead to somewhere outside of Dimentio's world entirely, where they would face a challenge and finally unlock the way to the Purity Heart itself.

The three of them looked at each other, courage flaring up in them. This was it. The final milestone. After this, they would have their confrontation with Dimentio. 'Let us go,' Fawful told them. He noted how it echoed a certain hero.

They nodded, and walked towards the door.

_'Oh no, I'm afraid it won't be that easy.'_ They froze; that voice was instantly recognizable.

In a dimensional flash, Dimentio appeared before them. Rose squeaked, hiding behind O'Chunks, who took on a fighting stance. 'There yeh are yeh stinkin' bawbag!' he growled.

'My my, such distaste from you. Is that truly how you wish to greet an old friend, O'Chunks?' His smile was as evil as it always was.

The girl gave a shifty look at him. '..."old friend?"'

''E's no friend o' mine!' the Scotsman snarled. 'Not anymore!'

'And you, Fawful!' he continued. 'So good to see you again. Your constant little victories are becoming quite trying on my nerves. You should have just ceased to exist along with the rest of the worlds after Valex ripped the Chaos Heart out of your chest.'

The Bean drew his blaster. 'No one shall defeat Lord Fawful,' he spat.

Dimentio set his eyes on Rose for a moment, then seemed to shrug, as if she were uninteresting. Fawful saw that look in his eyes though. He knew she looked just like Mimi. '"No one?"' he repeated. 'How interesting. I recall there being several defeats in your past.'

'Defeats which matched yours!' he retorted.

The magician winced. 'Oh how the memories pain me! Oh deary me!' He slung one leg over his knee, floating in the air. 'They are just that: memories. But for _you_, my wonderful nemesis, they are so much more! You see, in my travels around my own world I found two very distinctive individuals. _Voila!_' He snapped his fingers and two more dimensional shifts occurred behind him. Fawful's eyes travelled down to meet his new adversaries.

He swore his heart stopped.

Two human men stood side by side, dressed in matching clothes. Clad in coloured shirts and blue overalls, they looked more like manual labour workers than anything, but the subtleties were what told their story. Their white gloves, with ridges on the knuckles, were scuffed and worn from confrontations. Their hair beneath their caps was messy and unkempt, fitting the lifestyle of adventurers. Their shoes were tough and hard, fit for doing damage to those who would fight them. Their posture, straight; their fists, clenched. They were ready for battle.

The caps, red and green, and the mustaches, well-groomed and slick, told Fawful everything he needed to know. The instant he took to inspect them was all it took for him to suddenly realize that he was going to fail.

'Oh, the looks on your faces!' Dimentio laughed. 'Excellent, you remember!' His voice dropped to a low murmur as he savoured each word coming out of his mouth. 'The Mario Brothers would like to say hello.'


	25. Chapter 25: Battle with the Bros

Chapter 25: Battle with the Bros.

Mimi

Mimi soared through the skies, weightless, Dimentio's landscape far below her. Her eyes were peeled for even the slightest hint of someone familiar that she could enlist to aid them. She had seen a lot of creatures which were obviously from other dimensions. Beings which sported anatomies which were foreign to this world, shambling around in disoriented confusion. None of them would be of any help, however. Throughout her own confused dimensional travels she had met a very small number of people who had made an impression on her, so her own past experiences weren't giving her much to go on.

Despite this, the images of several people were burned into the front of her mind as she scoured the horizon. A man with skin matching Dimentio's, wrapped in a shimmering cloak, a top hat placed firmly on his head. A woman of the same race, stern, calculating, but hiding a compassionate and loyal soul under her stony exterior. Three humans, two males dressed in plumbers' outfits and sporting extravagant mustaches, the other a woman, clad in the most beautiful pink dress and carrying within her one of the most flawless voices she had ever heard. An enormous Koopa with a spiked shell, horns, and wild, red hair.

She stopped moving and hung in the air, staring into space sadly. The Count and his minions. The Four Heroes of the Light Prognosticus. Her friends. She missed them so much. She held her shoulders with her hands as she remembered the times they had shared, be it comforting each other under the threatening blanket of the Void or being locked in combat before the very same sky.

'I'll find you guys...' she murmured to herself. 'It doesn't matter how long I have to search. If I'm alive, I know you are too!'

She resumed her flight, keeping her gaze groundward. She'd find somebody soon. She only had to keep look—

Who was that?

She doubled back, looking at a figure walking shakily on the surface of the planet. The person hobbled on unsteady legs, hunched over. Even from this height Mimi could see they were shrouded in purple clothes. Frowning, she descended to the ground.

The figure didn't notice her and continued their difficult trek. 'Hey!' the green girl called.

The figure turned, and Mimi knew exactly who they were. They fixed her with a beady eye. 'Well well well,' they croaked. 'What a nice surprise.' There was venom in their voice. They shot a loathsome look at her and turned back around to continue walking.

'Uh...I said hey,' the girl repeated, putting her hands on her hips.

'Leave me be!' the person demanded in an angry hiss. 'I don't need help from the likes of you!'

Mimi lips curled in an unpleasant frown, but after a moment reversed their shape and took on a sly grin. 'I don't think you want to do that,' she said.

'And why not?' The figure said it with a bored disdain.

'I think there's someone you'd really like to see again.'

Fawful

Fawful's eyes were the widest with fear they'd ever been before. He took a step back, shivering with dread, not looking away from the eyes of the two former heroes who stood before him. Their fists were clenched, their jaws were set, and they never stopped looking at him.

Rose looked from Fawful's horrified face to the grief that was beginning to pass over O'Chunks. 'Who...' she asked, her voice becoming tainted with the fear that was taking hold over all three of them. 'Who are they?'

'Oh, an uneducated party?' Dimentio said. 'My my, Rose, you really know nothing.' He waved a hand in the direction of the brothers. 'These are two famous heroes from a long forgotten age. Whenever an evil arose, they stood up to fight it. Fawful himself is _quite _familiar with them, aren't you, my little Beanish friend?' The smile on his face was maddening. 'Once upon a time they fought against me too. Fortunately, injecting their souls with some of the Chaos Heart's energy seems to have solved their little allegiance issue. Ah ha ha ha.'

'We'll beat them!' the girl said firmly. 'Right guys?' She received no response and looked to her allies worriedly. 'Um...guys?'

'Oh, look at them!' the king laughed. 'They're shaking in their boots!' Fawful didn't want to show it, but he couldn't help but wear his fear plain on his face. O'Chunks also looked afraid; perspiration trailed down his face. 'Come now, surely you will steel your nerves and fight valiantly? Let loose a few heroic cries of defiance? O'Chunks? Do you not have a chunk-related quip to give to us?' His deformed teeth were showing; Dimentio was having the time of his life. 'And what of you, Fawful? Always running your mouth, talking about your dietary habits? If you don't have something to say, why, I might begin to think I've gone insane!'

All the while, the two humans simply stared at them with their unmoving eyes, waiting for the order, waiting to fight. The most horrifying thing was, Fawful had seen that look in their eyes before. They were normally more animated, but he had seen it. That look of silent determination against all odds. They wore that look when he had confronted them for the first time aboard the Koopa Cruiser so long ago. He had seen it when they had dueled in the depths of Bowser's Castle and he had lost his mistress. He had seen it within Bowser's body as he battled in desperation and breathed his last breath. He had seen it upon his return to life, and seen it as he fought alongside them against the magician who was before him. He had forgotten what it had felt like, to see that look directed at him, and it filled him with terror.

'Well,' Dimentio sighed, the sick grin never leaving his face. He stared at Fawful, intensity in his yellow and grey eyes. 'It is time to relive the past, Fawful.' He snapped his fingers; behind him, Rose and O'Chunks leapt in surprise. Two transparent boxes made of hexagonal shapes trapped them and they lifted up into the air. 'This will be a moment of true nostalgia!' he cackled. 'So why don't you two watch the spectacle unfold?' He sat on top of O'Chunks' box, slinging one knee over the other.

'Fawful!' Rose cried, pounding on the box. She took our her blaster and shot the wall; it pulsed brightly and the force knocked her against the other side, but the box was otherwise undamaged. The Scotsman roared and smashed his prison.

'Lemmie out!' he yelled. 'I won't let yeh do this!'

'Oh shut up you imbeciles,' Dimentio snapped, keeping an eye on the Bean. 'Are you ready, Fawful?'

Trembling, the Bean reached to his hip and drew his blaster. No Headgear. Only a single gun as a weapon. How was he going to win? How could he against the Mario Brothers?

The god of the world put his hands on his knees and leaned forward. His voice dropped to an evil, drawn out whisper.

'_Attack._'

Fawful's heart leapt. 'Mari—' he started to plead.

Without hesitation, the Mario Bros. ran at him. The Bean turned around and sprinted the length of the shrine's peak and started going down the steps as fast as he could.

'Oh well that's no fun,' Dimentio sighed.

Mario jumped off the peak and landed on a step in front of Fawful, keeping expert footing, and threw a vicious punch at him. The boy ducked, losing his footing and falling down a few steps before stopping himself with his hands and crawling down more steps.

'Fawful!' Rose yelled at him. 'You need to fight them!'

Pillars rose into the air from the ground below the steps, creating a network of bridges that linked walkways together. Fawful ran as fast as he good along the length of the step he was on and jumped onto one. His hands clutched the edge and he hurriedly pulled himself up over the side. He was becoming more athletic, he found.

'Grrr...' he growled at Dimentio, showing his huge teeth. 'Fink-rat! How dare you have the controlling of them?!' The Bean jumped as Mario leapt effortlessly onto the step, his shoes thunking hard against the stone walkway. The plumber advanced towards him, his fists drawn. 'Red mustache!' Fawful cried. 'Do not have battle! Have remembering! You are on the side of Fawful!'

Mario dashed towards him and the boy felt the familiar sensation of a chill up his spine as memories of being under the heel of the man's shoes surfaced to his mind. Panicking, he raised his blaster and fired a shot; a glowing bolt of energy whizzed through the air towards the oncoming man. The man threw himself onto his back, sliding under the bolt, then pushed himself up with his hands and used the momentum to bring his foot into Fawful's gut, hard. The wind was knocked out of his lungs and he was sent sliding across the high walkway, struggling to stay on.

Luigi jumped onto the walkway on the other side of Fawful, the sounds of his quick feet on the stone, sparking the Bean to action. Luigi leapt over him and Mario met him in the air, grabbing Luigi's hands, spinning him around, and throwing him down at the boy feet-first. Fawful rolled himself over, narrowly missing the impact; he was just inches away from the soles of the green brother's shoes, and he felt the dust on the pillar against his cheek. He got himself to stand up, drawing his blaster and aiming it at Luigi.

Mario landed behind Fawful, who spun around a little too late and received a powerful rotating kick to the face. Luigi jumped over the rolling Bean, landing in front of his brother. Fawful's blaster flew out of the boy's hands and fell over the side of the walkway to the ground below.

'Oh, such a shocking turn of events!' Dimentio gasped in false shock. 'The boy has lost his weapon!'

'Shut up you creep!' Rose growled at him, her hands pushing against her magical prison.

The jester shot her a deadly look, then gave a crooked smile at her. 'Just think,' he said. 'If Fawful dies here I will have little need for any other plans that centre around him.' The girl grimaced.

'Well yeh'll hafta keep yer plans!' O'Chunks shot. ''Cause Fawful's gonna win! I've never been surer o' anythin'!'

'Yeah...' Rose murmured half-heartedly.

The Bean got up, shaking, and put his hand into his cloak, pressing a few buttons on his storage cube, never keeping his eyes off of the two men running towards him. He pinched a few explosives between his fingers and threw his hand out from his cloak. They rolled across the walkway for a few seconds, then exploded in a dazzling display of fire and smoke. Not waiting to see if they worked, he turned and ran.

The Mario Brothers were briefly phased by the explosion, but shook themselves off and gave chase. Fawful leapt to another walkway, hurriedly taking out an unfinished blaster he'd been working on. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do for now. The Bros. skidded on their shoes and Mario jumped through the air at him. The Bean aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger.

The gun whirred for half a second, then fired a huge, blinding projectile of energy. It struck Mario square in the chest and the red plumber flew backwards, a trail of smoke issuing from his chest. Luigi briefly looked backwards, a flash of panic and worry present on his face, then turned back to face his foe.

The blast had blown the barrel right off the blaster and sent Fawful flailing wildly backwards down the walkway. One of his feet slipped off of the stone bridge and he fell onto his back. His metal arm, though perfectly intact when flesh and bone would not have been, throbbed with very real pain.

'That new arm of his...' Dimentio muttered to himself. 'How annoying. A blast like that would have ripped a natural one out of its socket.'

As Fawful stood again, another sound alerted him to Luigi's presence on his walkway. The green brother took out his hammer, the golden head glimmering in the sunlight over the shrine. 'Green mustache!' the Bean begged. 'Please, have remembrance!' The man dragged the hammer across the ground, holding the handle by one gloved hand. 'Dimentio is your enemy of badness! Not Fawful!' The Bean was stepping backwards as Luigi stepped forwards, and he realized that he was still holding his now scrapped blaster. He looked at it for a moment, then screamed, hurling it at the approaching plumber.

The boy ran as fast as he could towards his enemy. Ramming usually worked. Usually. Luigi swung his hammer, batting the hunk of destroyed metal right back at Fawful, who swung his robotic arm, ignoring the pain that went through it, and knocked the blaster aside, never breaking his pace. The distance between them was nullified and Fawful put the weight of his entire body into a desperate body slam. Luigi jumped vertically and the Bean missed him. The plumber came down on his head and the Bean's world spun as concussive pain blasted across his skull. Luigi leapt away and landed on the ground, bringing his hammer back in preparation for a swing. The boy flung himself backwards and the man's hammer met no target. He went onto his feet and wobbled dizzily, seeing three Luigis prepare another blow. This one met its mark; the horrible, cold, dense metal smashed against the side of his body, sending a shockwave through him and him careening over the side of the walkway to the ground below.

The boy crashed to the ground on his metal arm, writhing in pain, badly battered, but still okay. Fawful made a mental note to thank whoever made the limb until he had worn out his vocal cords. He stood up, panting, groaning, slowly trudging across the ground. He increased his pace to a staggering run; he could see his blaster lying on the ground. That was the key to his victory. He ran up to it, prepared to snatch it from the ground.

A brown shoe stepped on it and the Bean was face-to-face with the elder Mario Brother once again. The man took his foot off of the gun and kicked it behind him, drawing his hammer just like his brother. Fawful could hear Luigi behind him, knocking the ground with the gold head of his own Ultra Hammer.

'Blegh,' Fawful groaned, tensing. 'Fawful is not liking this sandwich.'

Mario ran at him, jumping up in the air and raising his hammer. Behind Fawful, Luigi threw his hammer head over handle at the Bean. Fawful spun around and reached out with his durable arm, grabbed the hammer in midair by its handle, then spun back around and gave it a hard swing, the two weapons smashing together in mid air and sending ripples through the Bean's body. Mario flew back and landed on his feet, wavering slightly.

'Oh my,' Dimentio said with controlled surprise.

'Woah,' O'Chunks gaped.

'Wow...' Rose whispered.

Fawful stared wide-eyed at the hammer he now held in his hand. A wide grin crossed his mouth. 'Wowing!' he beamed.

Luigi jumped at the Bean, spinning in the air. Fawful set his face in a glare and swung the hammer at its owner; Luigi grabbed the hammer by the head as it came towards him, gripping it as it followed through. He planted his feet on the ground and lifted Fawful off of his, holding the screaming boy aloft over his head.

'Oh my,' Dimentio said with delighted surprise.

'Woah,' O'Chunks grimaced.

'Wow...' Rose whispered, hiding her face in her hands.

Luigi flung Fawful at his brother, who stepped back and jumped horizontally, colliding with the boy headfirst, spinning in the air, grabbing him by the feet, and throwing him across the shrine and into the side of the stairs.

The Bean stumbled as he tried to walk, falling onto his stomach. He began to climb the stairs, crawling sluggishly. He could feel blood trailing down the side of his head, and moving was agonizing for his chest. He must have cracked something.

This was too much. He couldn't beat the Mario Brothers. He never could, and was never going to be able to. Even under Dimentio's control they were far too powerful to best in combat. He climbed the stairs, desperately trying to get away.

Rose and O'Chunks had begun to pound on their cubes again. 'Fawful!' Rose screamed. 'Get up! Run! _Do something!_'

'Ahahahahahaha!' the magician laughed, jumping on top of O'Chunks' cube. 'Oh this is wonderful! If only I'd known it would be this easy! Ahahahahaha_ack!_' The Scotsman punched the top of his prison, knocking Dimentio into the air. 'You insufferable _ogre_,' he snarled, stomping on the cube and sending a shockwave through it and making the man spasm.

Fawful reached the top of the steps to find Mario already there waiting for him, having been thrown to the top by his brother. Luigi trotted up the steps to join all of them. The Bean struggled to his feet, taking out a wrench from his storage cube. He clutched the handle tightly, swinging it once for emphasis.

'You're going to fight with _that?_' the jester snorted. 'Oh what a sad scene.'

Fawful swung the wrench at Mario, who blocked it with his hammer. Luigi advanced on him and the Bean lashed out at him. The two men circled him, holding their hammers with both hands now, eyeing him for any single misstep.

'Come now, don't keep us waiting!' Dimentio called. 'Attack him!'

Immediately, Luigi dashed at the boy and attacked with his hammer. Fawful dodged the swing and hit the man hard in the head with his wrench, making him reel from the blow. Mario punched Fawful in the back, making him lurch, and Luigi got up and delivered a swift kick to the head. The boy stumbled around the top of the shrine on weak legs, a garbled moan conveying his pain. Mario jumped over the Bean and landed in front of him; he sprinted at him, bringing his fist forward at full force. Fawful was thrown against the door to nowhere at the very centre of the shrine's peak. The stone shuddered against the blow, the door itself grinding against the frame. The Bean grabbed the edge of the frame, attempting to stay on his feet. Mario walked towards him.

'M...Mari...o...' the boy groaned, pressing up against the door in fear. 'Pl...ease...' The red plumber punched Fawful in the stomach and he grunted in pain, his face contorted. He coughed, gasping for air. Mario brought his fist back again and punched him in the face this time. A crack went down one of his glasses, fragmenting his vision in one eye. Blood gushed from his nose.

'Oh my god they're going to kill him!' Rose cried, tears falling from her eyes. 'Stop it! Stop helping Dimentio! Stop hurting Fawful!' O'Chunks roared, continuing to smash everywhere in the cube.

Dimentio made a noise of irritation. 'You are getting on my nerves, you great, furry idiot.' He snapped his fingers and O'Chunks' box disappeared, sending him falling to the ground below and Rose calling his name in horror.

Fawful was slumped against the door, resting his head against the stone. O'Chunks was lying on the ground, groaning and holding his side, trying to get to his feet to help Fawful, but to no avail. 'I...can't...' the Bean whimpered, his body completely devoid of any fight left.

'I think that is enough, my loyal subjects,' the king told the Mario Brothers. They backed up without a word, surveying the broken Bean lying against the door. Dimentio floated down to the ground, staring at his nemesis with a wide grin on his face. 'Well Fawful,' he said, crossing his arms. 'We both knew how this battle would end.' Fawful moved his head slightly, looking up pitifully at the invincible magician. 'I admit I thought you would put up more of an entertaining fight, but I suppose I was mistaken. You were utterly steamrolled, like a young delinquent up against two heavyweight champion fighters! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!' He took a few steps forward, uncrossing his arms and drawing up an explosive box around the boy. 'So this is how it ends. Defeated at the hands of the Mario Brothers, time and time again.'

Fawful grit his teeth in embarrassment and found that even that action caused him pain. 'Fink...rat...' he moaned, his voice no more than a faint whisper. He had Mushrooms in his storage cube, but they would do him no good now. He closed his eyes and relaxed, prepared to breathe his last before Dimentio revived him to do his bidding, or banished him to some unspeakable corner of his world for the rest of his nonexistence.

This was game over.

'Ciao, Fawful!' his foe beamed.

'What's that?!' Rose cried.

Dimentio's face flicked in annoyance and he looked over at the girl. 'Are you honestly attempting to use that trick on me?'

'No, really, what the heck is that?!' Rose pointed to an area behind them.

The magician sighed. 'I know as well as you do that there is nothing...what the Underwhere?'

Fawful opened his eyes to see a small flying saucer hovering over the scene, viewing them all with its wide eyes. Somebody had dropped by to see what the commotion was.

The saucer's bottom opened up and what looked like a cannon came out, aimed directly at them. Dimentio turned completely away from Fawful. 'That's...what on Earth does he think he's—'

The saucer fired, a reverberating sound paining their ears. A massive laser hit the stairs of the shrine, tearing them apart. The force of the blast threw Dimentio over the edge, screaming in rage. The door cracked and fell right over, crashing to the ground and allowing Fawful to roll over it. Rose's cube disappeared with Dimentio out of commission and she fell screaming towards the ground.

Fawful's world was spinning. The fire, debris, and smoke all melded together in one blurry vision. He laid on the ground, bleeding from two spots on his head, his chest aching. He had no idea what was going on, who that saucer belonged to, or whether or not he was going to die now. He wished if he was that it would just get itself over with.

'CHUNKS AWAY!' O'Chunks' belted out to the heavens. He blasted himself up to the top of the shrine with gas from his posterior, Rose in his arms.

'_THAT IS INCREDIBLY DISGUSTING!_' the girl shrieked. '_WHAT'S GOING ON? WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!_'

'Calm yerself lassy, everythin's gonna be okay!' the Scotsman reassured her. He ran over to Fawful and scooped him up. 'Yeh all righ' lad?' Fawful responded with a weak moan.

The saucer fired again and Fawful winced, the sound well past the threshold of pain for his ears. Another explosion rocked the whole shrine. The stairway buckled, the intersecting bridges fell. Part of one of the walls crumbled to ruin. The entire Purity Heart shrine was being destroyed. '_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_' Dimentio screamed at the saucer in white hot ire. '_I HAVE HIM! STOP FIRING THIS INSTANT!_' The saucer didn't heed his words, and another cannon blast tore apart the base of the shrine's stairs. '_I NEVER ORDERED THIS ATTACK YOU MANIAC!_'

The stairway began to tip. 'Uh oh...' O'Chunks said. He looked around for a moment, attempting to find a way down and finding none. 'Okay...hold on!' he told them, and ran to the edge. '_GRAAAAH GOOGLYYYYY!_'

A powerful burst of gas exploded from his rear, propelling them through the air and off of the falling shrine. Rose screamed. Fawful pressed against the steel breastplate of the man's armour, his eyes slammed shut and waiting to hit the ground and die.

They cleared the wall of the shrine, hearing another blast from the saucer and another scream of fury from Dimentio. Before they hit the ground, O'Chunks let loose one more burst of gas to slow them down. They hit the grassy ground.

The Scotsman put Fawful down on the ground as lightly as he could. Rose had flung herself out of his arms and was curled up in the grass, shivering. The man fished Fawful's storage cube out from his cloak, took out as many Mushrooms as he found, and fed the Bean every single one. Their restorative properties had his wounds healed in a matter of minutes.

Fawful was shivering too. Even though the physical wounds had healed, he was shaken. He pushed himself up with his hands, looking in shocked dismay at the crumbling stone shrine. 'It...' he whispered. 'It is destroyed...'

O'Chunks stared hopelessly at the scene. ''Ow...' he said. ''Ow're we gonna get the Purity Heart now...?'

'I...' The Bean clenched his fists, his fingers digging into the dirt. 'I am not knowing...'

The saucer stopped firing. It hung there, over the ruins of the last Purity Heart trial that they would need to have completed to finally take a stand at Dimentio, surveying its work. It was a steel reaper of the hope that they had clung to ever since each of them had been given life once more, and that was now gone.

The saucer left, and with it any chance they had of killing Dimentio.


	26. Chapter 26: Danse Macabre

Chapter 26: _Danse Macabre_

?

The king was facing his throne with his pale while hands behind his back, breathing heavily. He could feel sweat building on him, something he hated. He could think of nothing worse than the news he had just received.

He could hear a faint tapping from behind him, but he didn't turn around. A guest had arrived, a much unexpected one, brought in by very flustered and uncomfortable guards. Apparently they'd found her when there had been seven of them. Two had been killed, and two had committed suicide. The other three had stood their ground, and the person had gotten bored and decided to comply, making it very clear who was in power.

So now they just stood there, tapping against the wall irritably, waiting for the cloaked king to speak or otherwise react. He didn't.

_'The shrine was destroyed.' _Lady Rosabella's quick, panicked message to him in his mind had given him chills. The words had struck him dumb. That shrine of the Purity Heart's creation had been the key to acquiring the pure artefact, and now that it was gone, what could they do? How could they advance? Was Dimentio invincible, forever?

'You gonna just stand there forever, or are you gonna actually acknowledge that I'm here?' the guest asked him. They were perfectly calm, though their voice was vaguely malevolent.

'You killed four of my people,' the king spat, his voice run through a magical neutralizer so as to not give away who he was. One never knew what people could do with such little information.

'Well, technically, I only killed two. The other two were their own murderers.' He hadn't turned around yet, but the man knew they were smiling.

'Those were your doing as well,' he stated flatly. 'They would not have hurt you.'

'I dunno, they were pretty spear-happy. Besides, can you really blame me?' The king sighed. 'Are they even real people?' they asked. 'They've got all the makings of a human being, all those emotions, and yet...there's something off about them. They go through all the motions, they even seem to be genuine, but I can't shake the feeling it's just one huge puppet show on your part.'

'Not my part,' the king responded. 'The Purity Heart's part.'

'Oh? All pawns of a giant, floating ball of sappiness? What a dismal existence.' The king sighed again. 'You need to cheer up.'

'My friend just—'

He paused for a moment, blinking confusedly. 'Your friend just what?' his guest asked.

'She...just told me—'

'Oh, a _she?_' Again, the king could see that infuriating smile with the eyes in the back of his head. 'That's _adorable!_'

He spun around. 'Oh _shut up_,' he snarled. 'I have just received news that the one thing which could have given us a chance to kill Dimentio has been completely destroyed. The last thing I need is to suffer through smug barbs from someone like _you_.'

Their eyes widened. 'Whose name did you just say?'

The king glared at them. 'You have much to be caught up on, it seems.'

Knocking on the throne room doors cut their conversation off. A quick snap of the fingers and they swung open; two people strode into the room. 'C'mon!' one called. 'You're so slow!'

'Well boo hoo hoo,' the other snarled. 'We can't all be _eternally young_ like you.'

'Mister King Guy!' called Mimi, her face lit up. 'I found someone who could—' She stopped, looking from the king to his guest. Her eyes stopped on the guest for a moment, and the king swore a very, very awkward memory surface for just a second. He looked at the guest; if they felt the same, they didn't show it. The green girl looked back at the king. 'I guess you found one too!'

'...Mimi,' he greeted. 'You found another ally. Excellent. However...' He shifted. 'Small triumphs cannot discount crippling losses. The Purity Heart shrine was just destroyed. Our last gateway to the Chaos Heart's sister artefact has been neutralized.'

'What?!' the green girl gasped. 'But...that's...!'

'What in the world is going on here?!' Mimi's new friend said, enraged. 'Who are you?!' She pointed a finger at the king's guest. 'And what about you?!' she snapped at the king himself. 'Where am I?! What am I being expected to do?! _I just woke up for Grambi's sake!_'

'Hush,' the king groaned, rubbing his temples.

'Yeah, listen to the coward in a cloak,' the other one said. 'The last thing any of us want is an old windbag barking our ears off.' Mimi's companion snorted.

'Aaaahhh...' the king groaned. 'You two are behaving like elderly ladies bickering at a retirement home's bingo parlour.' Mimi raised an eyebrow. 'The truth of the matter is this: we must explore alternatives to the shrine's energy.'

'I think we need to actually be told _why_ all this has been going on,' the king's guest said.

The king walked over and sat in his throne. 'This world was created by Dimentio very recently following his strife with individuals in a now-dead dimension.'

'We were all a part of that, actually,' Mimi chimed in.

'Then we are all aware of what transpired. It has become very clear that in the creation of this new dimension, which Dimentio views as "perfect", various monuments were erected and imbued with the Purity Heart's energy as a way to find it if necessary.'

'And of course it is necessary,' his guest quipped. The king nodded. 'The world does feel pretty full of energies. The Chaos Heart's is everywhere, and I'm guessing the other one is the Purity Heart's. The fainter one.'

'Yes, undoubtedly,' the king responded. 'I believe that the Chaos Heart must have shut it away somewhere. That is the point of the monuments, the trials. They contain within them pockets of energy which must be released to tear a hole in the Chaos Heart's defenses so that someone can slip through and find it themselves.'

'And that's where Rosy comes in, right?' Mimi asked. 'She leads the other guys to the places so they can go in and get that energy released.'

'"Rosy"?' the king repeated, dubiously.

'I thought it was cute!' the girl replied with a grin and a blush.

He shook his head. 'You are correct though. That is her point.'

'So without the last monument, what do we do?' the green girl asked. Nobody had an answer to that.

'Is there no backup plan?' the king's guest asked. 'Anything that can be done to give one last push in the event of a failure?'

The king tapped his foot, his face concerned. 'There is...one thing. One thing here, in fact, in my kingdom. Near my castle.'

'Well then why not do that?'

'It is...unadvisable. It is very dangerous.'

'Well it's all we've got!' Mimi told him. 'Besides, how much more dangerous could it be?'

He supposed she had a point. 'Very well. I shall tell Rosabella to lead them here. They should be safer under my wing anyway.'

'If that's all, I'll be going,' his guest said. 'See if I can make a few friends.' They left. The king was not sure he trusted them with their "friends".

'I suppose I'll do the same and wait for them to come to us,' Mimi's companion told them, following suit.

The king looked at Mimi, and Mimi looked at the king. 'So...' she said, balancing on her heels. 'What's beneath the cloak?' She gave a mischievous smile. 'Is it a mask?'

The king regarded her closely; she didn't look like she had any malicious intent, but he had to admit he did not like where this line of questioning was going. 'On occasion,' he answered truthfully.

'You used a simile,' she noted. 'Just like Dimentio does.'

The king drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. 'Yes, I appear to have picked up the habit. What began as mockery is less so now.'

She stared at him with her shining, red eyes; in them were all the hidden depths he knew she possessed: clever and sly, fun-loving and playful, devious and wicked, loving and loyal. Every aspect she had had shined like a star, playing off of each other and creating a beautiful person. She might have originated as Rose's corpse given life, but she was so much more than a copy of anybody. He felt his heart pounding and wondered whether Dimentio had also felt the same things as he was when he looked at her. Having even this in common with him made him feel more than a little uncomfortable.

'Mimi...' he whispered faintly to himself.

The look in her eyes changed; she'd heard him. 'Who are you?' she asked him. Her voice was full of curiosity, but tainted with an edge of suspiciousness. 'Take off your hood, let me hear your real voice. What are you hiding from me? From everyone?'

His voice caught in his throat. He couldn't reveal himself to even her. He couldn't let anyone see him. It was too dangerous, and...if he did, nobody would trust him. They already had Dimentio to deal with, they didn't need anything more. 'I am hiding myself,' he told her, 'to protect myself in case of the possibility of Dimentio searching your memories. I cannot let him know who I am. My power is in anonymity.'

She put her hands on her hips and sighed. 'Fine. I guess that's okay.' It was clear from her gaze that it was not okay. 'I'll go too. Leave you alone with your mysterious thoughts.' She left too.

The fake king was alone, heart still beating hard. He was shaking, his knees were weak. Oh how he longed to tell her. Maybe she would accept him. No, that was ludicrous. She would sooner kill him. He would be secret until they killed Dimentio and saved the worlds. Beyond that...

He stared at his hands; white skin, pink fingernails; the antithesis of Dimentio and his people. He couldn't do anything after this. He didn't know if he would continue existing. Even if he did, it would be better if he simply disappeared.

He slouched against his throne, staring at the unmoving, closed doors. Out there was a fake world, one woven of darkness and chaos. In a time before now, many dimensions existed, and none of them could possibly take him.

He snapped his fingers and the Light Prognosticus appeared. He opened it.

_All is black._

That was the only message. Every other page had nothing on it. 'All is black...' he repeated solemnly.

And it was true. The future was a blank page. Nothing was certain. Nobody could know what would happen. The king, though, could see his own future written within that sentence. Blackness all around. Completely vanished from the world.

There was no world for him outside those doors. After they took down Dimentio, the only thing the future held for him was death. He knew that with all his heart.

Rose

The three of them sat around Fawful's electronic fire substitute in complete silence. O'Chunks was lying on his back, staring up into space, his hands behind his head. Fawful sat up, hunched and keeping his eyes locked on the lamp. Every now and then he would take out his storage cube and browse through its contents, maybe mutter about how their supplies were getting low. Rose had her knees propped up against herself and compulsively brushed her hair out of her eyes, even when it wasn't blocking her vision.

Their last task had been completely levelled. Rose wasn't exactly an expert on technology or magic or anything, but she couldn't think of anything they could do now, and was completely sure that Fawful, O'Chunks, or either of their faceless guides could either.

A chill went through her and she looked behind her. Nothing was there. Nobody was staring at her. Waiting for her to do anything. Ready to kill her if she didn't.

Her heart was pounding. Dimentio's plan to kill Fawful had failed. That meant that he needed a leg up, and she knew for a fact who would need to do that. She still remembered the menacing voice in her ear, threatening her with death, again.

She shouldn't do anything. She should just wait, stay with Fawful. Then, when Dimentio struck, she would fight with them. They would die, of course, but at least she'd go out fighting.

Or, maybe, there would be no fighting. Maybe Dimentio would find her and kill her quickly, and Fawful and O'Chunks would find her body slumped somewhere, lifeless and covered in blood.

Tears began to well up in her eyes. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to have to go through the pain again. Was preventing that worth betraying Fawful? The boy who trusted her, who had fallen for her? Was it worth betraying O'Chunks? She thought she heard a sound behind her, some sort of faint order on the wind. She turned again; nobody. She wiped away her tears, fighting back a whimper.

Was it really worth it?

Princess Rosabella

Former princess Rosabella stumbled across the landscape. She was still shaken from what she had just seen.

She had no idea what had transpired at that shrine, but obviously Dimentio had something to do with it. The entire structure had been destroyed by a flying, metal machine. She had seen everything from afar, and it had filled her with horror.

She didn't know what to do. She knew _he_ wouldn't know either. She knew Fawful wouldn't, that O'Chunks wouldn't, that Rose wouldn't. Nobody knew anything. Dimentio had struck, and they had begun to buckle under the force.

She felt like crying. Everything she had done had been done with a single goal in mind: restore the worlds and save the lives of the people Dimentio had killed. She didn't want to let their demises be in vain, and it was looking like they would be. They were failures.

Why had it come to this? Why had Dimentio found that book, the Dark Prognosticus, and dabbled in its magic? Why had he killed her, and then the entire castle? Why had he destroyed all worlds? Why couldn't she have grown up and become a queen? Why couldn't she have cleared Dimentio's name, given him special status, _anything_ other than all this? Why did so many have to die?

She hung her head. She should have seen it coming as soon as he started wearing the mask all the time. She never saw his face, and it would have been because he'd begun to change. Nobody ever saw his face. And the dimensional magic, that too. There had been so many warning signs.

She heard someone advancing towards her. She turned in the direction of the sound, backing up. 'Who's there?' she called. If it was a rabid animal or Dimentio, she could flip out back to the castle for a moment to get her bearings. If it was one of Dimentio's people, maybe she could brainwash it for...something. She didn't know what. Nobody answered, however. She took a breath. 'I said who's there?!' she yelled in what was hopefully a threatening voice.

She got her answer in the form of a timid, terrified voice. 'I'm sorry...' it said.

The sound of energy whizzed through the air, coupled with a bright light. It got her before she could react.

Fawful

The dim light of the Bean's lamp illuminated the night around him, and gave him heat. The light reflected off his spiralled glasses, blocking the anxiety and pain in his eyes from any onlookers. His body still ached. His broken bones, his cuts, and his bruises had all been healed, but shadows of the agonizing and humiliating defeat were still prickling under his skin. He could still feel the soles of the Mario Brothers' boots on his head, and the hard strikes of their hammers.

He beat the ground with his fists, his enormous teeth clenched. Why could he never beat them?! No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he fought, no matter what was on the line, they always won! It didn't matter whether it was fighting for Cackletta, fighting for himself, or fighting for the fate of the entire multiverse, they always beat him within an inch of his life! While fighting this time he'd held on to a foolish hope that maybe he could win if he had the right goal in his heart. He thought maybe since he was being the "good guy" this time, he could triumph against all odds and beat his adversaries at least.

Not so. It would never happen. They were too powerful. Even under the control of Dimentio, they would beat every single foe that stood against them. You'd almost think they were the main characters of a video game or something.

Fawful suddenly realized that he would really like to play one right now. Just sit back, turn on the power, and escape from his troubles for maybe an hour. But video games were gone now too, so that was out of the question.

_Hello?_ he thought, calling out his mind to whoever could listen. Maybe their guide would hear him, console him, tell him that everything was going to be okay and that they still had a chance. Or maybe, just maybe, the mysterious man behind it all would respond. He seemed to have all the answers. Surely there was something they could do. Dimentio couldn't possibly win. It wasn't fair. _Respond?_ he thought, sending out another message. _I have loneliness..._ Nobody was there. Maybe nobody ever would be.

'O'Chunks?' he asked.

'Yeah?' the Scotsman replied. He sounded exhausted.

'Do you think we will have death?'

'...' He didn't answer.

'I am not wanting to die again. I have had death the time of twice already.'

'I don't wanna die either,' the man replied. 'But...wha's left teh do?'

'I am not knowing...'

Suddenly, there was movement behind them. They both turned to see Rose coming towards them, dragging something behind her. In the light of the lamp, she looked like she was in extreme pain. 'Rose?' O'Chunks said.

'Rose!' Fawful hopped up. 'Do you have wellness?!'

She was panting with effort, trying to transport the thing behind her. 'I...found...' she gasped, then tossed the thing onto the ground before them. 'I found her.'

They both looked at what Rose had brought: a person. It was a girl who looked exactly like Rose with only a few differences, the most notable being her pink hair and more flushed skin. She had a scorch mark on her chest and was breathing weakly. 'Who...?' Fawful asked. A creeping sensation had begun to move up his neck.

'This...this is our guide,' she said. 'The one who's been making us follow her for a long time.'

''Ey!' O'Chunks suddenly exclaimed. 'I know who that is!' They both looked at him. 'She's that princess lass who Dimentio grew up with!'

Fawful took a second look and realized O'Chunks was right. She completely matched the girl who he'd seen before, in Dimentio's memories. 'Oh...wowing. But...' He looked at Rose. 'Did you have the attacking of her?'

She nodded. 'I...I don't think we can trust her!' she exclaimed. Her voice was shaking. 'I mean...think about it. She's been hiding herself from us for the entire time she's been leading us!' The pink-haired girl groaned, rubbing her scorch wound. 'And what about that other guy? We know even less about who he is! She knows though, I know she does!'

Fawful eyed the princess cautiously. Rose had a point. 'Yesing...that has truth,' he agreed.

'And besides...she led us to the shrine, right? The one we nearly got killed at! We got ambushed there, and she wasn't around for it, was she? Isn't that...isn't that a little suspicious?' Rose's voice sounded a little agitated.

'Yer kinda right,' O'Chunks concurred. 'I mean...we should be able the trust 'er, right?'

Fawful crossed his arms. 'This has much truth,' he said, nodding.

'We...we should interrogate her,' the white girl told them.

'Mm.' The Bean nodded. 'O'Chunks have the supporting of her.' O'Chunks walked over and sat her up, holding her up by the shoulders.

Fawful stared at her. She opened her pink eyes, looking at him with despair. 'Fawful...'she whispered. 'Why?'

'We should have knowledge of the same question!' he barked. She winced. 'You have had secrecy with us, and that is not pleasing!'

'I couldn't...let you know anything! I can't! Please, just let me go right now! Please trust me!' She was begging with him now.

'Noing!' he snapped. 'The time for trusting is not the time which is now! Now is the time of answers!'

She turned her head away from him. 'I...I can't say anything. I'm sorry.'

Fawful gritted his teeth. Anger and frustration was beginning to well up in him. She had told them nothing their entire time here, while they had risked their lives and almost died several times, and she had the nerve to keep quiet now? How dare she?! He took out his blaster and pointed it at her face; she, Rose, and O'Chunks all jumped. 'I have fury!' he shouted. 'Your secrets enrage Fawful, enrage him like a test with no right answers! If you are not telling us your secrets, then I am blasting you until you are gross oatmeal!' He turned the power up to full for emphasis.

'Fawful, don't...don't kill her!' Rose exclaimed.

'Yeah, yer goin' too bloomin' far!' O'Chunks cried, backing up and bringing the princess with him.

'Well then...what?!' he demanded. 'What can be done?!'

'I...I don't know, I just brought her here,' the girl sighed.

They all looked back at the princess, who eyed them all helplessly. She wouldn't be giving them any suggestions on how to interrogate her. 'Well...yeh remember what tha' other girl did teh Mimi? She searched through 'er memories with the Chaos Heart.' Their captive's eyes widened for a brief moment and Fawful knew he was onto something.

'Yeah...yeah!' Rose exclaimed. 'If you could bring spirits back to life, we could probably do that too!'

Fawful nodded. 'If you will not be telling us, then we will be telling ourselves.' He took a step forward.

'Fawful please don't do this!' the princess pleaded. 'You don't know what you're doing!'

The Beanish boy glared at her. 'I have knowledge of enough.' He placed a hand on her head, closed his eyes, and tried to draw upon the Purity Heart energy that he hoped he possessed innately.

There was a moment when he couldn't see anything in his mind's eye. He reached out for the princess' memories, struggling to view them. Then, suddenly, they flickered to life. They were fuzzy; she was fighting against him, but he pushed harder. He wouldn't be bested this time.

_Who is your master being?_ He centred around this single thing he needed to know. Slowly, a memory formed before his eyes. The princess was talking to her superior. Talking about him.

_'What's he going to have to do?'_ The voice was the princess'. The vision was still blurred, but it was clearing slowly. The figure she was talking to had gotten up out of a throne and walked to the centre of the chamber in which they were talking.

_'Fawful will complete the trials and then be led here,'_ the figure told her. His voice was, for once, not filtered and completely clear. A dark, terrified feeling suddenly took hold of him. _'We will bring him into the castle, treat him like the hero he is.'_ Fawful could recognize the voice.

_'And then what...?'_ the woman asked quietly.

The figure turned around. Even before he saw his face, Fawful knew who it would be, who the horrible voice belonged to. The mysterious man's identity was no longer a mystery, and the truth was the most horrifying thing that the Bean could imagine.

It was Dimentio. His yellow and grey eyes shined, scrutinizing the princess Scrutinizing Fawful. _'And then, we will kill him.'_

The vision ended. Fawful took a shaking hand off of the princess' head, staring at her in terror. 'You...' he whispered. 'It...'

'Fawful, no, it's not...' the pink-haired girl pleaded. 'It's not what you think!'

A force like a mallet slammed against his chest. '_You had the tricking of me!_' he screamed at her, making them all recoil.

'F-Fawful!' Rose gasped. 'Who did you see?!'

The Bean choked on his own words. 'Dimentio!' he cried. 'It was being Dimentio this whole time!'

'Fawful, don't believe it!' the princess begged. 'It's a trap I swear!'

The boy aimed the blaster at the woman. '_YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS A TRAP!_' he screeched wildly. '_YOU AND YOUR KING OF EVIL!_' He pulled the trigger and fired at her. Rose screamed and slammed into the princess; the two of them hit the ground and the blast struck O'Chunks in the armoured chest, knocking him over with a winded groan of pain.

Fawful ran away from all of them. He felt like his chest was about to erupt, like his brain was going to burst out of his skull. He didn't know anything anymore. All this time, from all sides, everything had been against him. Dimentio as a direct force, and Dimentio in the shadows, guiding him, watching him, striking every time he could while keeping him under his thumb. He never had a chance. Every single thing they had been told, everything they had done, was a lie. He had been nothing more than a doomed soul walking the planet, destined to fail, a corpse performing a grim dance to entertain his spectators while they prepared a noose for his lingering spirit.

He screamed into the night. He heard a shout behind him, Rose's, but he didn't turn around. He heard O'Chunks too, but he would not stop. He could not stop. He could do nothing but run away to the ends of the earth, and when he got there all that he would find was a dead end.

He found a village by accident, a small hub for Dimentio's people, and ran right in, screaming like a madman. All around him were people; blue-skinned, black-haired, and all of them regarded him with a very faint, dull shock. He heard voices around him.

'It is him!'

'His Majesty's enemy!'

'Kill him!'

Their voices were so dull. Fawful could hear the emotion, the muffled anger, the stifled hatred. They were there, but their hearts weren't in it. He stopped and yelled, all of his fury and betrayal rushing out of his mouth. He fired his blaster at one of the people; they dissolved into black mush. He killed another, and then another. A young man, an elderly woman, a small child, a baby. They all fell before his blasts, crying out in voices which seemed barely interested in the carnage.

He hated everything. He hated every single one of these pathetic shells of people, he hated every single atom that made up this cursed world. Most of all, he hated himself. He hated himself for being so weak that he could not beat two human plumbers and save his mistress. He hated himself for not even being able to beat them when pumped full of dark energy. He hated himself for accepting the wish of a Shayde in the Underwhere who he had never known, who had turned out to house the most devious and dreadful soul in the entire history of the multiverse.

As he laid waste to more and more people, he could feel tears going down his cheeks. They were familiar tracks, ones he was sure must be burned into his face now. 'I...have...fury...' he whispered, shaking.

There was nothing left for him.

?

_'Help me.'_

Rosabella's plea had been the most terrifying thing the false king had ever heard; it was weak and pathetic, and utterly hopeless. In his mind, it had been little more than a haggard whisper, and when communicating through thoughts a person's tone was always indicative of their situation. As soon as he'd heard he had immediately left. He would have to save her himself.

Princess Rosabella was in trouble; deep trouble.

_What happened?!_ he called out to her through his own mind.

_'Rose captured me...'_ was the response. _'Fawful read my memories, and...'_

Oh Grambi damn it. _What did he see?! What's he doing?! _No no no this couldn't be happening.

_'Rose is taking me to a village, following Fawful...'_

'WHAT?!' he screamed out loud. In the middle of all those people?!

_'Mister King Guy!' _It was Mimi's thoughts. _'We're all following you like you told us to. What's going on?'_

_Fawful's...gone off the rails,_ he answered, clenching his fists. _He ran into a village of Dimentio's people, along with Rose and O'Chunks. I fear they will be overrun by the inhabitants and killed._ Was this Dimentio's doing, all this madness?

_'So we're gonna drop in and help him, right?'_

_That is correct._

_'What made him go "off the rails"?'_

_...I don't know. _He could guess, though. Who knows what he saw in Rosabella's memories?

He saw the village, and knew Fawful was there. Screams and shouts could be heard erupting from the town, and flashes of bright light and waves of sound signalled Fawful's mad assault against the townspeople. _Down there!_ he ordered his three allies, and dove down into the crowd.

The entire village was in an uproar, and people were all moving towards the square to have a piece of Fawful. A single thought was on their minds: kill their god's mortal foe. There was no way the Bean could hold them all off. Strength in numbers was enormous.

_Princess, where are you?!_ he called.

_'I'm...Rose dropped me, she got scared. I'm...I'm in a street somewhere.'_

_I'll find you,_ he told her. _Mimi, I need you to find Rose, she's a girl who looks just like you. Exactly like you, with white hair and red eyes._

A ripple of confusion could be felt from Mimi. _'Rose...I don't like the sound of that, for some reason...'_

_It doesn't matter, just find her and protect her!_

_'What about me?'_ This time it was the guest who had shown up at his door.

_Find O'Chunks. He's a large man with a red beard._ A thought occurred to him. _On second thought, Mimi should find O'Chunks and you should find Rose. I've got the princess._

_'I'll get Fawful.'_ Mimi's companion this time.

_I would expect nothing less._

He dashed through a side street, shooting a blast of magic right through a middle-aged man running to tear apart the Bean. His body slumped, but he barely showed any pain. Dimentio's creations were becoming less and less humanlike. How ironic. It was just what the magician had wanted.

He saw Rosabella. He made to run towards her through the crowds that ignored him, but something stopped him in his tracks.

_'What's that?'_ It was a simultaneous thought, given out by Mimi, both of their allies, O'Chunks, Rose, and the princess. Suddenly, every single person stopped moving, and one more energy blast could be heard from Fawful before he too looked where everyone was facing. The king looked up.

Floating over the town like a puppet dangling from strings was a familiar figure: Dimentio. His cold eyes watched over the scene with malicious contempt, but otherwise he did not move. He seemed to be able to see each and every one of them; his eyes darted back and forth, looking at every one of his enemies. They locked onto the king's, and the king stared back.

A terrible feeling had seized him. They were trapped. He had been backed into a corner. They were more than easy to dispatch right here. That had been Dimentio's plan: make Fawful a wild card, then when other people arrived to get him back on their side, take them all out. Everything had fallen into place.

He smiled at Dimentio, though. All around him were the jester's citizens. They were, in a certain sense, his children. He knew Dimentio well, and he knew for a fact that Dimentio would never, ever kill them. They were special. They were "perfection". At worst, he would float down and kill Fawful, be precise about it. They could battle on the ground, enough to get away. This was okay. They could still make it out of this ahead.

Slowly, Dimentio raised his arm; dark energy began to collect on his palm. Those eyes, those dark, desperate, wicked eyes, bore a hole through the faux king's head, and suddenly he realized that he had underestimated just how much Dimentio wanted them all to die. His eyes widened, his mouth dropped, and he felt like he had just been slapped across the face. He had read Dimentio wrong.

He was _wrong_.

Raw panic gripped his heart and he turned towards the princess. _PROTECT THEM!_ he screamed in his thoughts to everybody, allies, enemies, and Dimentio alike, and ran as fast as his legs could take him. From Dimentio, a single word travelled down; it was a tired, but triumphant, snarl.

'_Die._'

He shot the blast.

'_ROSE!_' howled the king. He leapt the rest of the distance between them, wrapped his body around hers, and erected a barrier around them both.

*Chaos*

The entire village, people and all, exploded. The dark blast detonated with the force of a very small atomic weapon; a shockwave blew the foundations of the houses apart and threw people through the air. Dark magic erupted out from the projectile, causing a howl of rushing air and a crackle of energy to buzz over everyone's ears. Darkness covered everything like fire, cleaving through the houses and breaking them into particles. The people didn't scream, but they ran from the blast in their own suppressed fear. It separated their skin from their bones, melting them like heated butter. Their skeletons, broken and cracked from the shockwave, fell apart and disintegrated into a powder. A cloud of dust blew outwards over the landscape, ripping the plantlife out of the ground and flinging bits of soil and stone far from the village.

Then it was over. Where there was once a village there was just a black stain on the world, devoid of life, smouldering with the remains of dark magic. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed.

Dimentio, the world's creator, stared at this stain with an empty expression. He hung there like a doll for a few moments, his eyes scanning the blackened and lifeless ground. Then, without a sound save for his distinctive _ping!_, he left.

Bodies littered the ground, frozen and battered, among the rubble. They were the bodies of those who stood to oppose the world's god, and who had felt the full force of his rage and desperation.

Dimentio was gone, all the village's inhabitants were dead. Those still in one place were in no condition to see. Nobody noticed the three saucers float down to the wreckage with metal claws outstretched. Nobody noticed them pick up some of the bodies. Nobody noticed them fly off with them.

They, too, left the stain. Those who remained stayed lying on the ground, surrounded by destruction. Eventually, they would summon the energy required to leave and recoup. For now, they remained still like corpses, blanketed by their failure.


	27. Chapter 27: Reflection

Chapter 27: Reflection

Rawn

The blue-skinned man named Rawn stared into the distance. A pinprick of blackness could be just barely seen on the horizon, a telltale mark of his god's wrath and power. Perhaps he had finally killed Fawful.

A very faint feeling that his brain somehow registered as happiness swirled around in his heart. His lips, ever so slightly, moved into a smile. He was happy for his king. At the same time, a hint of worry crept in; did anybody die? He stopped smiling. It would not be good if anybody like him were killed. There were people who traded things. Important things. His own village could have been destroyed, even. Where would he sleep? How would he eat? His wife could be dead. That would be inconvenient.

Rawn thought back to the moment he had found his Majesty lying in the middle of nowhere. It had been an incredibly surprising and slightly frightening affair. A lot had happened since then. His simple way of life had been completely turned around by the inclusion of a god and his enemy.

He would have been angry, if he didn't have feelings of the utmost reverence for Dimentio. He could feel them in his chest: faint stirrings of pride and joy. His tiny smile came back.

Someone came up beside him. It was the girl named Danni, the one who had called him spineless before. 'Hello,' he greeted.

'Hello,' she replied.

'How are you?' he asked.

'Good.'

'Good.'

She stared ahead at the pinprick of blackness, or where it had been. 'Something blew up,' she noted. Her voice, nearly monotone, betrayed the smallest fragment of curiosity and awe. 'It's cool.'

Rawn blinked. Something was wrong here. He didn't know what, but there was something he didn't like about this, and it was nibbling at his chest.

_'Oh, I...whoa! Sorry, your face just kinda scared me.'_

She had been so energetic and spoke quickly, without thinking. She had ran into the room abruptly, even disrespectfully, and enraged the king. He looked at her again; she was still staring into the distance, a glazed look in her eyes. Where was that energy now?

He looked at the spot where he had seen the explosion in the distance. He thought he had a bad feeling. He was sure he could feel it there. But shouldn't the feeling be bigger?

'Something's wrong,' he said.

'What is?' Danni asked.

'I don't know.' He couldn't place his finger on it, and no matter how hard he tried it didn't make sense. He tried smiling widely, smiling broadly, smiling without a care in the world.

He couldn't. His lips would not move.

So he stopped trying. He continued staring at where the blackness once was, a sign of darkness. All the while he felt the nibbling of worry in his chest, but no amount of thinking about it made what he felt grow. He supposed that meant it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Danni brought a hand to her heart. 'I remember...that feeling,' she said.

Rawn turned. 'What?'

'That...feeling,' she repeated. 'I can't...understand.' Rawn couldn't either. Her arms fell to her sides.

The two people stood stalk still, unmoving and silent.

?

Utter silence.

The king lay against his throne; his arms were drooped to the sides, his head was tilted tiredly to the left. Beneath his hooded cloak he was breathing deeply, each breath of air painful on his still-healing chest. Mushrooms took a little time, he supposed.

The person who had shown up at the king's door was in the throne room with him, sitting with their back against a wall, their eyes staring at a wall on the other side of the room. They didn't speak.

Princess Rosabella sat beside him on the floor against his throne, utterly silent. She had been the most shaken by the recent events, and for very good reason. She looked like she was fighting back a panic attack.

'Was it you who gave me that barrier?' their ally asked. The king nodded. 'Thanks for that.'

The results of what they had planned to be a rescue mission hung heavily over them all. Fawful, Rose, and O'Chunks were gone, and one of their own, the one Mimi had found and brought back, had been taken as well. Mimi herself was gone to parts unknown, though to where he had no idea. So here they were, with their biggest link to the Purity Heart taken away, and short two allies with which they could rescue him.

The one against the wall suddenly slammed a fist against it, making Rosabella jump. 'Damn it!' they snarled, then spun around to face the king. 'What the Underwhere did he _see?!_'

The king stared, deadpan. 'I don't know.'

'As if I believe that!' they spat back, mutinous anger in their voice. 'You know perfectly well what he saw! He saw _you_, didn't he?! What are you hiding behind that hood?!'

'Whatever he saw,' the man replied steely, 'I doubt it was a genuine scene.'

'What, you think Dimentio altered it or something?'

'It is likely.'

'You are so full of it,' they growled. 'I can hear the lies coming right out of your mouth.' The king just sighed. 'And what about Mimi? Is she dead? Did you somehow _forget_ to protect her too?'

'I protected everyone!' the king shot back. 'None of you were without my protection!'

'Then where is she?'

'I don't know!'

Rosabella murmured something.

'What?' the king's ally asked. 'What did you say?'

'I said I think she went with the flying things...' Her voice was small and nervous.

'She can shapeshift,' the king mused. 'She'll be able to locate where Fawful is for us.'

Then, without warning, Mimi flipped into the room. Her entire body was shaking, but she looked at them all with determination. 'H...hey...' she greeted them.

'Speak of the devil,' said their partner. 'What timing.'

'Mimi,' the king said, standing up with some difficulty. 'Where did you go off to?'

'I...' She made a horrified face. 'I turned into a bug,' she said, 'and latched on to one of those flying saucers.'

'Man we're good,' their ally quipped.

'Where did they lead to?' the king asked.

'A castle!' Mimi replied. 'Or what is sort of a castle. I think the people in the village used to use it for stuff, but now there's a guy in there who owns it.'

'A..."guy"?' The king felt a bad feeling growing. 'Dimentio has an ally?'

'I guess so, it's what they all call him. "His Majesty's friend," and those sorts of things.'

'So what, you want to bust in there and get them out?' Their guest had spoken again.

'I think we should,' Mimi replied.

'Of course, it must be done,' the king told them.

'Well have fun with that,' their ally responded. 'I'm done with this.'

'Hey!' Mimi shot. 'You can't just _back out!_'

'Sure I can. I almost died. I'm not risking my life again like that.'

The green girl glared at them. 'You want some incentive?'

They gave her a dubious look. 'What incentive could you give me?'

Mimi smiled a very smug smile, and the king knew that the next words out of her mouth would bring them up to the task.

He was right.

Fawful

Fawful came to.

The first thing he noticed was that it was dark. Very dark. He couldn't see a thing where he was. He brought his hands to his face, tracing the rims and lenses of his huge, swirled glasses. They were useless here.

The second thing he noticed was that he was lying on stone. Recent events were a blur of confusion and hysteria, but he swore he had been lying on earth before he had fallen unconscious.

The third thing he noticed was that he didn't hurt at all. After Dimentio's strike against them, he'd have thought that his whole body would be broken.

With a jolt he remembered that there had been other people with him. 'Helloing?!' he called. His voice echoed off the walls and came back to him. Somebody in the room groaned loudly. 'Someone is here!' he exclaimed.

They groaned even louder. 'Ggggnnngggghhh...can you be quiet? I'm _resting_.'

Fawful's heart skipped a beat; he recognized that voice. 'U...um...' he stammered, his pulse quickening. 'F...forgive me, but...are you being who I am thinking you are being?'

There was a moment of silence, then a shuffling. A loud _snap!_ echoed off the walls and then a bright flame was lit in the centre of the room. In the room with him, in a separate cell, was someone he thought he would never see again in his life.

Cackletta.

He immediately scrambled to his feet and ran right into the bars. His eyes were blasted with sudden light as he smacked his face against the metal and fell backwards. 'Well!' the Bean witch said, grinning despite the circumstances. 'That was certainly odd. Have greetings changed since I died _again?_'

The Bean boy got up quickly. 'M...Mistress Cackletta!' he exclaimed, grabbing into the bars with his hands. 'It is being you!' His body was shaking, joy was spreading across his whole body. 'You...you have returned to me!'

She gave him an exasperated look. 'Are you crying?'

Fawful realized that tears were running down his cheeks. 'I...I did not think that I would ever have the seeing of you again!' he cried. He couldn't handle it. What felt like eons of running and being so alone without anybody to comfort him had been immediately tossed aside. She was here. His mother was here. 'I...' His voice lowered. 'I had the missing of you, so much...' He sniffled. He knew Cackletta hated it when he cried, but he was so happy. A great, big, stupid grin spread across his face. 'Your toady has been fighting!'

The Bean witch stared him down. 'I thought we decided I wasn't your Mistress anymore, _Lord_ Fawful, and that you weren't my toady.'

Fawful's mouth hung open in mild shock, his eyes wide. Then he sagged and sank to his knees, resting his head against the bars. 'Fawful...does not feel like a Lord anymore...'

Cackletta still stared at him with her probing eyes, illuminated by the magical firelight. Her voice lowered. 'You look so broken...' she whispered. The Bean boy's heart swelled and he shivered; the voice was everything he knew that a mother was. The witch stuck an arm through the bars, but the distance between their cells was too great. She couldn't reach him.

'I...I had almost had the dying,' he said, his voice quavering. 'The times of almost-death were many...' He waved his robotic arm in the air. 'Dimentio had the stealing of my arm,' he continued. 'I had the augmentation, but those mustache brothers—'

'Those losers are here too?' Cackletta interrupted, anger in her words.

'They are being controlled. They are on the side of Dimentio now.'

'Oh my,' the witch exclaimed quietly. 'We are in trouble, aren't we?' Fawful nodded.

They both fell quiet. The only things they heard were their own breaths.

'Cackletta?' he said to her.

'Yes Fawful?'

'I am loving you.'

'...I love you too, Fawful.' Fawful smiled. Even though he was locked up in a dungeon cell, he knew this was the happiest he had been in a very long time. If Dimentio marched in and killed him right now...he figured he could die happily.

'H...hey...'

They both turned. 'Oh...hello to you, Rose,' Fawful said.

''Oy, yeh're not forgettin' about me, are yeh?'

Fawful laughed. 'No O'Chunks, we are not forgetting about you!'

They were all in their own cells, locked up tight, but at least they had each other. 'So, this is the crew eh?' Cackletta mused critically. She looked at Rose, then at O'Chunks. 'I remember the burly man, but the girl's different.' She grinned at Fawful. 'Did you get a girlfriend while I was gone?'

A pit immediately dropped in Fawful's chest. Rose looked away, embarrassed and guilty. 'N...no, she is not...' The Bean trailed off.

'Eeyah ha ha ha!' the witch laughed, and his smile came right back up. That beautiful, nostalgic laugh was music to his ears. 'Still the little boy at heart I see!' Fawful made a snarling sound, but he couldn't help but smile.

'Um...hello?' Everybody turned. In another cell, a young boy sat, watching them all intently. His eyes held wondrous curiosity. 'I don't know what any of you people are. Why are two of you green?'

'We're Beans,' Cackletta answered lazily.

'Wow,' the boy said. 'Can I eat you?'

'We're not on the menu!' the witch spat. 'Who do you think you are, comparing us to _food?!_'

'But you said you were beans!'

'Beans with a capital B, you ignorant little whelp!'

The boy crossed his arms. 'Okay.' He looked at O'Chunks. 'Are you a soldier?'

'Yeah.' O'Chunks nodded. 'Finest general me old homeworld ever knew!'

'Have you ever killed anyone?'

'Yeah, lotsa people.'

Fawful thought that this boy asked way too many questions. 'Welling, Fawful thinks this has gone on for a time which is too long.'

'Why do you talk like that?'

'_NO MORE QUESTIONS!_' both Beans growled. The boy shrank back into his cell and Rose and O'Chunks giggled.

'Hee hee...' Rose laughed. 'This feels nice. Just sitting here, laughing.'

'Yeh've got that right lassy!' O'Chunks chortled. 'Sometimes yeh've gotta take a break from almost dyin'.'

'Or from actually dying,' Cackletta said. Fawful felt he agreed with her.

'So...' Rose said, looking over at the boy. 'Who are you?'

'No more questions...' the boy muttered.

'It's fine when the girl does it,' the Bean witch barked. 'And I'm curious myself.'

'I'd like teh know too,' the Scotsman chimed in.

'I also have curiosity.'

The boy's eyes looked at all of them. 'I'm...I'm Thymol. I'm from...somewhere else. I got killed and then I woke up and then a green girl showed up—'

'Whating?' Fawful was now listening even more intently. 'That is sounding like Mimi!'

'Yeah, that's what her name was. Then she showed up.' He pointed at Rose, who suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable.

''Ey...' O'Chunks said. 'Why didn't yeh tell us?' Rose didn't answer.

'Tch,' Cackletta clucked. 'Keeping secrets from your allies. More like a villain than a hero, don't you think little girl?' She shrunk further back.

'So then,' Thymol continued. 'This really scary-looking man found me. The man who killed me before I woke up again.'

'Dimentio,' was everyone's unanimous response.

'And then I was brought here.'

'I am seeing...' Fawful said. He decided to put Rose's secret out of his mind for now. 'Does anybody have knowledge of whose castle we are imprisoned inside of?'

'Dimentio's ally,' the boy told him. 'That's all I know.'

Suddenly there was the sound of grinding metal. A door opened and torchlight streamed into the jail room. One of Dimentio's creations walked into the room, clad in full armour and carrying a spear. He looked incredibly bored. 'His Majesty's cohort desires an audience with you,' he said, his voice just barely emotive.

Fawful met Cackletta's gaze. 'I suppose we'll be finding out soon enough,' she said.

'Silence,' the guard snapped in his bored tone. Cackletta grumbled but did not give a retort. The guard slammed his spear on the ground; the doors to their cells swung open. Simultaneously, all of their hands were automatically flung behind their backs, bound together by dark magic. Cackletta's fire immediately dissipated; her magic was snuffed out. 'You must not be permitted to resist,' the soldier told them. 'If you attack me or try to escape, I will hurt you. Silence,' he added again when they gave noises of complaint. They left the room and the door shut, leaving Thymol alone inside.

They walked through the halls in silence, afraid to speak out and to meet the sharp end of the spear. They could see other guards and the occasional person walking around, an uninterested look in their eyes. They talked with each other, but they didn't seem particularly enthralled in their discussions. The Purity Heart's energy must be working its magic on them, Fawful figured. At least they were accomplishing something; they were dismantling Dimentio's world bit by bit. All they had to do was escape this castle. Perhaps they could overpower Dimentio's ally. It would probably not be too hard, now that Cackletta was here. Her magic would come in handy.

They approached the doors to what he assumed was the throne room. The two guards protecting it gave small nods and stood aside. The soldier escorting them turned around and looked at them in turn. His eyes stayed on Fawful for a few moments and he could see a look that, through the immense amount of boredom with life, somewhat resembled hatred and a little bit of confusion. 'You are about to have an audience with our god's right hand. You will not speak unless instructed. You will listen to all he has to say. You will not resist, or he will surely kill you.'

'Yeah yeah, I've heard all this before,' the Bean witch sighed tiredly. 'You get dragged in front of one royal pain in the hindquarters, you get dragged in front of them all.' The man glared at her and tapped his spear on the floor; the magical bindings around her hands sparked and she jerked where she stood, almost doubling over. 'All right all right I'll shut up!' she growled.

The guard turned around. One more tap of the spear (which made Cackletta wince) caused the doors to open. He stepped aside and beckoned for them to enter.

They walked in. The doors closed behind them. Their eyes completely ignored the extravagant surroundings and the piles of mechanical parts arranged in neat piles around the room and travelled straight up to the figure sitting on the throne.

Fawful's eyes widened. His jaw dropped. He could feel complete shock buzz through his body as he laid his eyes on their captor.

'_WHAT?!_' everybody exclaimed in complete bafflement.

'HAHAHAHAHA! Well well of welling!' the figure up on the throne laughed. One leg was folded over the other and his head rested on his hand, which was propped up on the arm of the throne by its elbow. 'What kind of guests are we having today? I will tell you!'

'This is insane!' Cackletta yelled in confused outrage. Fawful understood; up on the throne was someone who, even with the purple clothes, the jagged-edged, dark cape, the red glasses, and the slightly darker skin, was someone who was utterly, completely recognizable, and for good reason. It was _him._

Up on the throne, a Fawful dressed in dark attire grinned at them. 'It is a bunch of little fink-rats!'

?

Mimi strode into the throne room, smashing the doors behind her. 'Hey!' she shouted.

The king turned around. Through the hooded cloak he could see that she was here for a purpose that he was not going to like. 'Mimi,' he said. 'For what do I deserve this pleasure?'

'Oh shut up!' she snapped angrily. 'I can't believe you!'

The man's heart was beginning to pound. 'I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Well then lemmie just explain,' she said, her eyes burning into him. 'I went to that castle, right? The one owned by Dimentio's partner or whatever.'

He nodded. A knot had grown in his chest. 'Yes.'

'Well, I made sure to actually find out who it was. Do you know who it was?'

The king shook his head. 'No, I honestly do not.'

'It was Fawful. It was another Fawful.'

He felt a pounding against his chest and his eyes widened. 'What?'

'Yeah, it was like an evil version of Fawful, dressed in all dark. So I figured that something must have happened to split Fawful when the world was created. The Purity and Chaos Hearts would have had something to do with it.' The king responded with a very distressed, guttural sound. 'So I got thinking, and went to talk with Rosabella, that pink-haired girl. She knows who you are, I knew that.' She took a step towards him and the king stood up. 'So she told me. She told me who you are.' She took another step. 'You're Dimentio too, aren't you?'

The man stood perfectly still, heart pounding, teeth clenched. Then, slowly, his mouth turned into a grin and the absolute absurdity of the situation caused a fit of hysteria to well up in him and come out his mouth. 'Ahahaha...AHAHAHAHAHAHA!' he laughed. Mimi winced and took a step back, fear on her face. 'Oh how perfect! How wonderfully _amazing!_ Found out through my own ranks!' He tore his cloak off and let it fall to the floor, fully exposing his black and white hair and his grey and yellow eyes. The only thing setting him apart from his enemy was his pale white skin, saved from the horrors of the deformation that plagued the other. 'Such an awful turn of events,' he sighed. His heart was still pounding, his mind was still reeling, but he still grinned. 'Yes, it was I the whole time, battling my foe like a delusionary boxer dueling with his own shadow!' The girl said nothing, but her face was going through a variety of expressions, and none of them positive. 'So now that you know the truth, Mimikins, what will you do?' He could feel the venom rolling off of his tongue, just like he'd done time and time again in the world before. His own voice disgusted him, but he had no control. 'Now that you know the one you have trusted so much is a carbon copy of the foe you have been fighting against for so long, what action will you take? Will you kill me? Strike me down, eliminating half of the worlds' scourge? Then you can take the fight to my darker half, strike him down and see the end of this conflict. Is that what you will do?'

Mimi put her head down, shaking. The man said nothing, and simply stared at the girl before him. When she looked up, her eyes were in tears. She ran at him. He closed his eyes and sighed, fully prepared to be struck down right here. Perhaps they could go the rest of the way without him.

The girl jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, knocking him back into his throne and wiping the grin off his face, replacing it with shock. 'Wh...what?' he said.

She cried into his chest. 'After all this time...' she whimpered. 'After all this fighting, I finally get to meet you...'

'Meet...me...?' He looked at her, confused.

She met his eyes, blinking away the tears. 'You're finally away from all that darkness,' she said, smiling, her voice quavering. 'You're finally with me. Dimentio.'


	28. Chapter 28: Superiority

Chapter 28: Superiority

Princess Rosabella

Princess Rosabella sat on a bench in the town square, her head in her hands, staring at the ground. She couldn't look up. She couldn't see the people going about their days while she knew that there were people on the other side of the world slowly decaying, their hearts slowing to a halt. She couldn't look at them knowing that they would meet the same grim fate later, these shells of people. She couldn't look up at the stars, knowing they were fake, created by a monster shaping the Void.

She sighed. 'This is too much...' She could still feel the burn of the dark explosion on her skin, even through the barrier that had saved her. 'All this death and tragedy...' It was enough to make her wish she were dead again. The Overthere was a paradise. This was worse than the Underwhere's deepest pits. Or so she assumed.

Someone else sat beside her. A sideways glance at the man's black and white hair told her who it was. 'Rosabella,' he greeted her. It shocked her to hear how much of the usual hatred had faded from his voice when he spoke to her.

'Dimentio,' she replied.

The human made a noise of distaste. 'Such a dreadful name.'

'But it's your name.'

'That changes nothing,' he said coldly. 'It is the name of the most heinous creature in all of existence.'

'Well to _me_,' she countered, 'it's the name of a good friend.'

He looked at her, and she saw a shadow of the loathing they once held. 'I killed you,' he said. 'And your father. And your lover. And everyone else you ever knew.'

She shook her head. 'No, you didn't. The other Dimentio did.'

He stood up suddenly. 'What difference does it make?!' he snapped at her. 'Whether it was him or me, we both share the same name, the same memories, the same fractured, yearning soul! And besides...' he added, his voice turning sour. 'Even without the Dark Prognosticus' influence, I still would have wanted to kill you. That memory, that desire, lives on even in me.'

'Then why haven't you killed me yet?' He fell silent. 'It doesn't matter what you think of yourself. I look at you and I see just a little bit of the Dimentio I grew up with, and that makes me happy. You're fighting against yourself. You're repenting. Isn't that what's important?'

In the light pouring off of the houses in the square, the man's eyes glinted. 'You and I will never be friends again,' he told her. 'Even if this heart of mine sends me crawling back to the Underwhere in chains, I will never feel for you what I once did.'

Rosabella wiped her hands on her dress and stared at the boy who used to be her best friend, feeling a sad pain in her chest. 'I know,' she said. 'But...it just makes me happy that I could see you one more time.'

He looked away. 'There is not a moment that passes where I wouldn't change that moment,' he said; his voice sounded like it would break. 'Not a second where I don't wish I hadn't picked up that book, or where I wish it had been my own heart in my palm.'

The princess smiled despite it all. 'Your heart's in the right place, Dimentio,' she said soothingly. 'We'll get through this eventually.'

He sighed. 'For now...we must find our ally and save Fawful. That is the most important thing.'

Rosabella nodded. 'Mhm. Did you tell her the plan?'

'Of course.'

'It's a genius plan, you know. Really ironic, too.'

In the darkness, she saw him grin. 'Ahahahaha,' he laughed, and a flash of wickedness she never saw in him growing up passed across his face. 'And you know I just _adore_ irony.'

Her smile wavered uncomfortably; despite the similarities, this really wasn't the same Dimentio she had known after all.

Light Fawful

The two Fawful's stared each other down with contrasting expressions: Light Fawful with one of confusion and shock, and Dark Fawful with one of delighted and perverse glee. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Dimentio's ally was _himself?_ It didn't make any sense!

'I have chortles!' Dark Fawful shouted before having a fit of laughter. 'Your faces are filling me with hilarity!'

'H...HOW...?!' Light Fawful sputtered. 'This has impossibility! You...you are a fake! Hahaha! Yes, a stupid fake who is deserving of scorn from the Fawful who is not fake!'

'Once again, you have wrongness, and it is you who is deserving of scorn, for your accusations of fakeness are far from the truth!'

'Oh Grambi please kill me,' Cackletta moaned.

Dark Fawful jumped from his throne. 'Cackletta! It has been a time of longness since I have been seeing you!' His dark cape, spiked and bordered with red, flowed behind him. 'Yes, the last time we met, I had the killing of you! Such memories of fondness.' The smile on his face only grew as he said this. 'And to think I had been a lowly toady, making sandwiches of pain and suffering marked with the name "Cackletta!" All along, the name "Fawful" was unmarked, and it fills me with fury!' His face was close to hers, his toothy grin and wide eyes making her move her head back.

'Well they've got your name on them now,' the Bean witch responded. 'Too bad they're just pickles and bread.'

'FAH!' Dark Fawful spat, spinning around and letting his cape move behind him. 'Your knowledge of Fawful's most hated foods gives me more fury than unmarked sandwiches.'

'Unless you forgot, I _did_ raise you,' she leered.

'And I am thanking you!' he said. 'But now Fawful does not require raising, he only requires sandwiches!'

'Those sandwiches are belonging to me!' Light Fawful interjected. 'And do not insult the Great Cackletta!'

The Bean's dark doppelganger stopped his movements and his grin lowered. Slowly, he walked over to his clone and flicked his black tuft of hair. 'Silly boy,' he spat. 'The only greatness here is Fawful.' Then, he brought his foot up and kicked Light Fawful in the face.

'Fawful!' his three allies shouted.

'Yesing?' Dark Fawful responded, his grin back.

'The _good_ Fawful, you jerk!' Rose yelled.

'I'm so confused...' O'Chunks lamented quietly.

'Your adoration for this witch angers me,' the dark Bean said. 'Her greatness is like a rotten banana in the fruit bowl of villainy, and you should have remembrance of that!'

Pain was fading from Light Fawful's face; he got himself up, his bound hands making him need to use his back to sit up, and glared at the dark version of himself. 'I had the killing of her too,' he reminded him.

'Yes, let's all discuss how I got killed by a nine-year-old,' Cackletta sighed.

'_**FAWFUL IS NOT BEING NINE!**_' both Fawful's screamed at her, making her actually fall onto her side out of surprise. The two Bean scientists briefly looked at each other, then Light Fawful snarled and Dark Fawful chuckled.

'This does not have importance,' Dark Fawful said, waving his hand. 'It is idle chatter from stupid toadies before a teacher who has no patience!' Dark Fawful flicked his wrist and dark tendrils came out of his fingers, swirling around his good counterpart's face. He jumped and shook his head quickly, but found that the darkness was repairing the little damage he had suffered from the kick to the face. 'But you...' Light Fawful found himself staring into his own face, into red-tinted glasses. 'You are the star pupil in a class of fools!'

'Well I am being you,' he said matter-of-factly.

'Indeed. We are both being Lord Fawful. Split into halves at the creation of this world of Dimentio's.' Cackletta, Rose, and O'Chunks all stared at the two of them as if they had ingested some sort of hallucinogen. It must have been a weird sight, seeing one Fawful looking up at another. 'Are you liking the arm I had the making of for you?'

Light Fawful's eyes widened. 'You...!'

'Yesing, I had the making of the arm! There is no one who is greater than Fawful at technology!'

'But...why?' O'Chunks asked. 'That doesn't make any sense, fer yeh to help us.'

'He probably just wanted to give us a fighting chance,' Rose offered. 'To watch us suffer more.'

'No.' Cackletta shook her head. 'I mean, perhaps. But no, there's more to it than that, isn't there Fawful?'

Dark Fawful nodded. 'You are knowing me well, "mother".'

'You want power, don't you? You want it all to yourself. You don't want to share it with Dimentio.' The dark Bean just stared and smiled. 'But you know that Dimentio's invincible unless we get the Purity Heart. So you gave your good half the arm so that he could have a better chance at not getting his scrawny butt killed (Light Fawful made an unpleasant sound) and so he could get the Purity Heart to kill Dimentio.'

'Once again, you have correctness. You have smartness, even if it is not matching the smartness of Fawful.'

'Of course, if Dimentio is a villain worth his salt he'll kill you when all this is over,' the Bean witch noted.

'Of coursing,' Dark Fawful stated as if this was obvious. 'Which is why I must have the killing of him first.'

'So that's why you brought us here?' Rose offered. 'Just in case he came back to finish the job?' Dark Fawful nodded again.

'HA! HA HA HA!' Light Fawful laughed a little too loudly. 'We can reveal this!' he said. 'Your plan of such "geniusness" is useless!'

'But why would he believe us?' Cackletta responded, still staring at Dark Fawful. 'It's his enemies versus his ally. There's no one he would trust less than us.' The dark Bean nodded again, this time with more fervor. 'He can tell us whatever he wants and we can do nothing. How...' She set her jaw in a scowl. 'Evil.'

'And so you have understanding of the situation which you have been put in by me!' their enemy declared.

'Let us go then!' Rose demanded. 'If you want to help us, why are you keeping us here?!'

Dark Fawful laughed again. 'Because this is being so much _fun!_' he cackled. 'You have deadness to Dimentio, so you can be Fawful's prisoners for however long he is wishing!' He turned to his clone. 'And I am wishing to have fun with you. Hee hee hee.' Hearing his own laugh sent chills down Light Fawful's spine; he had no idea he was so creepy. Dark Fawful took a deep breath.

'Uh oh,' muttered Cackletta, and scrunched up her face.

'What—' Rose and O'Chunks began.

'_**GUARD!**_' the dark Bean shrieked at the top of his lungs, making everyone in the room save the good Fawful yell from the pain in their ears.

The doors opened and a guard stuck his head in. 'Yes?'

'I am requiring the gifts!' The guard nodded and left.

'...gifts?' Light Fawful repeated.

'Yesing! The charity of Lord Fawful has boundlessness.' The look on his face told otherwise, however.

The guard re-entered the room holding two metallic boxes. He walked past the group of prisoners and put them on the ground, bowed, and then left. Dark Fawful snapped his fingers and Light Fawful found that the bonds on his hands dissipated. He started, then gave his counterpart an icy glare; none of this made sense. 'I am desiring an explanation!' he said.

The other Bean simply giggled, then put the sole of his shoe on one box and kicked it across the floor towards him. He grabbed the box and opened it. His eyes widened. 'What's in the box, Fawful?' Rose asked. 'Uh...good...Fawful?'

Light Fawful closed his hands carefully around the glass dome of the machine, lifting it out with shaking hands. It was an exact replica of his latest Headgear model, the version that was destroyed before the worlds ended. 'It...it is being Headgear!' he exclaimed. 'I...'

He looked across the room and found that his other half was also taking out a Headgear, this one given a far more sinister colour scheme. He put it on his head. 'That arm is not the only thing that I had the building of!' he told his benevolent self. 'As I had saying, I am wishing to have fun with you.' He giggled again. 'We shall see which Fawful truly has the most strength!'

The Bean boy not charged with dark energy felt nervousness creeping across his chest; he was going to have to battle himself? Why? What could his foe gain from this? He knew the answer: pride. It was all about his own ego, about the bragging rights that came from being the superior entity of the two. 'What if Fawful does not want to fight?' he demanded.

Dark Fawful gave a fake, kind smile, devoid of teeth. 'If you can have the defeating of me, then you will have freedom.'

Light Fawful looked back at his allies. Rose was staring at them both with fascination and anxiety, O'Chunks still looked like someone had grown three heads before his eyes. Cackletta had a crooked smile on. She looked at him and nodded.

He turned back and planted the Headgear on his head. It immediately turned on, and the familiar warmth of the machinery felt comforting to him. It lowered its "head" to look at him, and gave an odd kind of smile before returning to its battle-ready position. 'Welling?' the dark Bean said. 'Will you have battle?'

The better half swallowed apprehensively, then immediately ran at his foe. 'I SAY TO YOU, _YES!_' he roared.

Both Beans turned on their rockets simultaneously and took to the air, Light Fawful ascending towards Dark. The good Bean started with a shower of powerful blasts, which the bad one easily dodged. 'Perhaps you lack practice!' he sneered. The villain turned his rockets forward and flew at his foe, who lashed out with the Headgear's mouth and closed its teeth around the glass dome of the other machine.

A blast of energy exploded out of its maw, but to the hero's surprise it merely sent himself soaring away from his enemy and their undamaged vacuum helmet, the teeth grinding against the glass as it lost contact. He stalled the rockets, plummeting down to avoid shots from the evil scientist, then ran along the ground shooting from below.

'Fink-rat!' Dark Fawful growled as he dodged the hail of energy projectiles. 'You are destroying my ceiling!'

'Your ceiling has ugliness, like lonely princesses with broken mirrors!'

'I'm...pretty sure that's Fawful's face up there,' Rose noted.

'Yep,' Cackletta agreed. 'That's my genius toady for you. Always plastering his face where it doesn't belong.'

Dark Fawful cut the engines on his Headgear and smashed feet first on the ground, a wave of dark energy blowing the spectators off of their feet. 'You dare insult the visage of Fawful?!'

'Yesing!'

'_Idiot!_ I will make a pudding out of your face!'

'At least it will have more deliciousness than your face!'

The dark Bean turned on the rockets again and flew at the light one, who fell backwards onto his back and grabbed Dark Fawful's leg with his Headgear. He flung himself back up and smashed his malevolent half onto the ground. 'Hah!' he laughed.

Dark Fawful jerked his leg up, which flung Light Fawful into the air and then back onto the ground. 'Hah to you!' he countered, then flew back up into the air, dragging his counterpart by the head. 'I am possessing ten times the strength of you!' Then he faced the wall and flew straight into it. The two Beans crashed into the hard, stone surface, spraying dust and chunks of rock out onto the floor. Light Fawful's head spun and he hung limply from Dark Fawful's leg. The dark Bean had shielded himself with magic, and was cackling with glee. 'This has fun!' he laughed, then flew back and proceeded to smash into the wall again. On the third time, Light Fawful let go of Dark Fawful and fell to the ground, dazed.

'Fawful, pick yourself up!' Cackletta commanded. 'Don't let him walk all over you!'

Light Fawful stood up shakily, then jumped back away from the other Bean, who came down upon him. Light Fawful used his Headgear's "head" as a fist, cracking the dark boy over the head with the metal mouth. 'Taste the condiment of defeat!' he shot, blocking a similar blow from his enemy. His Headgear's mouth closed around the neck of the other one, then pulled Dark Fawful up close. Light Fawful punched his foe in the nose, drawing blood.

'Ack!' the malevolent Bean growled. Dark magic was spreading around his face, healing the wound quickly. 'Your fighting has stupidity! Why are you using your fists?!' Light Fawful answered that question with another punch to the face.

'Eeyah ha ha ha!' the Bean witch laughed. 'He didn't even say a word! I don't think I've ever been more proud!'

Light Fawful looked sideways at his former mistress. 'I am thanking you, Cackletta!' he beamed.

Dark Fawful punched his light clone, the force of his punch backed up by the force of the Chaos Heart's energy. The hero went flying across the room, skidding along the ground and ending up sprawled at the foot of the throne. The dark Bean flew up into the air again, his palms crackling with dark energy. 'Now is the moment when your distraction begets your defeat, and when playing becomes battling!'

Dark Fawful soared across the room and landed before his mirror image, who blasted him with a shot from his Headgear. The malevolent boy weathered the shot with his own arm, then smashed Light Fawful up with a burst of magic from his palm. The boy spun up into the air and his Headgear closed its teeth around the throne, ripping it out of the ground, heaving it up, and bringing it down upon his dark clone. The magnificent chair crumbled into ruin around the evil Bean's barrier, which became a pulse of energy that threw Light Fawful up to the ceiling and made him smash into one of the teeth from the graven image of his own, grinning face that it was adorned with. He started the rockets again, but his foe met him in the air and grabbed him by the shoulders, spun them both around, and flew them both into the ground, then threw the light Bean across the floor with strength his small body shouldn't be able to possess.

'You're cheating!' Rose shouted accusingly.

'A villain of intelligence does not use fairness!' was the response.

Rose looked at Cackletta to confirm this. 'Well...he's right,' she told the girl.

Light Fawful hit the ground and pushed himself up. Aches and pains he was growing far too familiar with had spread across his body, and meanwhile his dark counterpart didn't look the least bit fazed. 'Hahahaha! What is the matter?' his enemy taunted. 'Do you have pain? Do you have suffering, like a little puny boy suffocating on the cake of his triumph?'

The good Bean gritted his teeth and stood up. 'It is the cake of YOUR TEARS!' he screamed, and ran at him, the mouth of his Headgear flaring up dangerously.

Dark Fawful made a _tsk_ sound, complete with the smuggest grin imaginable. 'The tears of salty joy!' he said cheerfully, before sticking out his palm and knocking Light Fawful off his feet with a dark blast of energy that shook the entire castle. Their spectators all cried out in surprise and fear as the massive building quaked. The benevolent Bean arced through the air, dark smoke trailing off his body, and crashed into the wall once more, falling down to the ground with a final boom and laying still.

'Eeeuugh...' he groaned. At this point the pain all over his body felt like an old friend. It hardly bothered him anymore.

Dark Fawful snapped his fingers again; the scattered debris of the throne collected together and reformed the large seat as it once was. The Bean sat down in it. 'And now we have knowledge!' he beamed happily. 'The better Fawful is me!'

'You'll never be half the person he is!' Rose shot angrily.

'HAHAHAHAHAHA!' the dark scientist laughed. 'Oh, make with the up-shut, girl of stupidness!' He snapped his fingers and Rose recoiled as if struck across the face. Then he sighed dramatically and slumped against his throne. 'And now I have boredom.' He snapped his fingers one more time and Light Fawful's hands snapped behind his back and were once again bound with dark tendrils. '_**GUARD!**_'

'_My ears..._' Cackletta groaned, hitting her head against the floor several times.

The guard re-entered the room. 'Yes?'

'Return these fink-rats to their cells. Fawful is finished with them.'

The guard looked from Fawful to Fawful, looking mildly confused, but nodded. 'Yes.'

They were marched out of the room and tossed back into their prison. Light Fawful rested his head against the ground, nursing his aches and pains with his hands once the bonds disappeared. Beaten by himself. What was next?

Dark Fawful

Dark Fawful tapped his throne's arms happily. Oh how he had loved that confrontation. Watching the manifestation of his own weakness squirm in agony...oh how sweet it was. Sweet like the most delicious candy he'd ever eaten. He hummed a song to himself idly; it was jazzy, he realized. He had a fondness for that sort of thing. If he could carry around speakers with him to play a theme song on, it would be jazzy, with lots of finger-snapping. He wondered what he would do with his captives tomorrow.

'Hee hee,' he giggled. 'The fury of Fawful is lost under his jubilation!'

_'Enjoying yourself?'_

The Bean started, but only for a brief second. He was used to voices in his head. _I say to you yes! Crushing the Fawful of light gives me joy!_

_'How long do you expect to keep him? It cannot be forever.'_

_Eh._ Despite having no audience, the Bean shrugged. _I am not knowing. However long that pleases me._

_'I feel obligated to let you know that your...master knows who you have in your castle.'_

Fawful nearly fell out of his throne. 'WHAT?!'

_'A soldier sent a message through the towns meant for Dimentio. I am not sure they trust you. He plans to arrive soon to execute Fawful once and for all.'_

He could feel himself starting to perspire. This was really not good. _But...he...does that mean they must be given freedom?_

_'If you want to die. Dimentio will not stand for anymore failures.'_

Oh no oh no oh no. _So...what can be done?!_

_'Nothing. I suggest you formulate some sort of plan quickly, because he is coming very soon. And you know what will happen once that boy dies.'_

The manifestation of Fawful's evil leapt out of his chair. On the horizon was a monster, come to take away everything that could be his. Something had to be done.

But..._what?_


	29. Chapter 29: The Penultimate Show

Chapter 29: The Penultimate Show

?

A very determined person stood on the top of Light Dimentio's castle, staring out on the horizon. The sun was coming up. The dawn of a new day. The dawn of a very important day, when they would reclaim what belonged to them. Their heart was pounding from both excitement, longing, and apprehension; soon enough their foe would be without his prisoners, but that did involve them needing to face the most powerful being on the planet, an indestructible, insane monster. Not exactly a comforting thought.

They kept staring as the sun rose, the bright rays ineffective against their eyes. They felt a substance begin to collect in their mouth and they smiled, showing teeth; soon, they would strike.

'Here we are,' said a voice beside them. 'Awaiting the moment, like a ravenous spider eyeing an unassuming gnat.'

They turned. 'Here we are,' they said to the human magician. 'Dimentio the benevolent.'

A dark smirk showed the man's teeth. 'Oh how I have always loved juxtaposition.'

'You know, this entire thing could have been avoided if you had simply been honest about your identity from the beginning, instead of moping about like a dramatic little boy.'

'I highly doubt Fawful would have trusted me,' he responded dismissively. 'Perhaps now that Mimi is with us, things will be easier.'

'Perhaps.' They turned back to watch the sun. 'When do we leave?'

'_You_ will leave quite soon. I will be staying behind.'

'Still the coward I see?' they snickered, making sure to make their mocking expression clearly visible.

'My time to strike will come soon,' he replied. 'Dimentio will be at my mercy.'

'Or you'll be at his. One way or another, a Dimentio's gonna win.'

'Indeed.' The king crossed his arms. 'It truly will be the greatest show of all time.'

They laughed. 'I've seen much better.'

'Nonsense!' Light Dimentio exclaimed with mock insult.

They stood up. 'I'd better get ready.'

'I wish you the best of luck.'

They blew a kiss to the magician, savouring the distasteful expression it got. 'Luck's nothing I've ever needed.'

Dark Dimentio

_'So. Will this at last be your crowning moment of victory, Dimentio?'_

The magician stared at his mirror, inspecting his deformed face, tracing his misshapen head with his fingers and feeling all the lumps and crevices. He knew that his _pure_ counterpart would be devoid of such disgusting features, but would instead bear the horribly imperfect visage of the human self he had banished before the ends of the worlds. He wasn't sure which he would prefer.

'Our Fawful has captured his own counterpart,' he said aloud. Nobody was around to hear him. 'There is no way our enemy will be able to defeat him and escape, so he is safely confined there. Put up against two foes powered by your energy, it is not possible to win. I am certain this will be the end of our eternal battle.'

_'You were certain it was the end when you decimated your own city.'_

'It was a miscalculation.'

_'Oh Dimentio,'_ the Chaos Heart crooned with a dissatisfied edge to its voice. _'What happened to you? You used to be such the chessmaster, and now they're slipping through your fingers.'_ The mirror before him suddenly flickered and an image of himself with smooth, immaculate, dark blue skin smiled wickedly at him, imitating his movements. _'You even killed your own people. How desperate you are.'_

'I can create more,' he responded, his voice tired.

_'Create more citizens? You are acting as if they are nothing but toys!'_

'And what,' the former jester snapped angrily. 'You see them as more alive than I do?'

_'Oh of course not,'_ the Heart chuckled. _'They are nothing but shells brought to life by my own energy.'_

The callous disregard for his people sent a ripple of sadness and anger across him. 'They are my people,' he said firmly.

_'And yet you killed them.'_

He clenched his fist. 'To kill Fawful.'

_'Is even one life worth the death of your enemy?'_

He grit his teeth. 'I tire of incessant lectures from a disembodied heart.'

_'But Dimentio...'_ the Chaos Heart hissed, and the mirror became completely black. He took a step backwards. _'You know I am more than a simple heart.' _In the blackness, a humanoid figure appeared, crafted out of shadow. Two shining red eyes glowed in its head, and a smile more wicked than his own stretched across his face. _'I am just as sentient and feeling as you.'_

'Your illusions mean nothing to me,' he murmured despite the unintentional chill he was getting up the back of his neck.

The mirror faded back to normal. _'As a master of illusions I should expect nothing less.'_ A ripple of an emotion that Dark Dimentio placed as curiosity went through the Heart. _'What will you do once Fawful is dead?'_

'Find and kill that infuriating princess, my benevolent half, and all else who oppose me.

_'And then?'_

_And then I will rule._ He wanted to say it but the words wouldn't come. He saw his people becoming more hollow every day. What was there to rule? He couldn't think of that. He had to act for the current moment alone. What came after that would come.

As he turned away from the mirror, he swore he saw, once again, a reflection of himself, untarnished and perfect as he once was. When he looked back, all he saw was the horrible face of a deformed man, drained of all soul and running a deadly marathon while the energy slowly left him. As he ran it, he saw no finish line in sight, no end goal. What was there that he could have that would truly make him feel alive again?

Inexplicably, an image of a green girl passed through his mind. He pushed the thought away.

Light Fawful

The doors to the jail room opened, alerting all who were imprisoned there. Light Fawful looked sideways with his head alone; he couldn't be bothered to move his whole body. 'Is Fawful to suffer humiliation at the hands of one who is also being Fawful again?'

'No,' was the guard's response. 'You are to be executed.'

The Bean immediately sat up, sudden fear gripping him. 'What?'

'I second that inquiry,' Cackletta piped up. 'Executed?'

'Who's being executed?!' Thymol exclaimed, the curious boy suddenly panicking.

'All of you. You are all enemies to our god. And you,' he said, gesturing to the boy, whose breathing was becoming louder, 'are a burden to him. You will all die.' The uninterested way he said it made Fawful feel even worse than he would have had the guard's words been filled with loathing and sadistic pleasure. 'His Highness Dimentio will see to it himself.'

'But he can't!' Rose suddenly yelled.

'Yes he can,' the guard countered simply, before hitting his spear off the ground, opening the cell doors and binding their hands together at the same time. 'Come.'

'No!' Thymol screamed. 'I won't come! You can't make me!'

The guard hit his spear on the ground again and the boy writhed in pain, his agony coming out of his mouth in muffled gasps. 'You are too loud,' the guard told him, knocking his spear again and preventing Thymol from saying a word. 'His Majesty does not like noise.'

Fawful looked at Cackletta, O'Chunks, and Rose. All three of them bore helpless expressions, and he knew the same expression was on his own face. 'What...what do we do?' Rose asked them, shivering.

'Nothin',' O'Chunks responded gruffly. 'We've just gotta go.'

'But...but we will have death!' the Bean boy exclaimed. 'After all of the fighting...'

'The burly man's right Fawful,' Cackletta sighed. 'My magic is useless. You have no weapons. The two kids aren't of any help, and the man's at a disadvantage. I don't think there's any way out of this one.' She set her mouth in a snarl. 'Guess I've gotta die again.'

'Cackletta...' he whispered, staring at the ground.

The guard waved his spear. 'Come. All of you.' All of them walked out into the throne room, where posts were set up, one for each of them. They were pushed against them and their hands and feet were bound by dark magic to the posts. They couldn't move.

His heart was pounding. What could he do? They had escaped death so many times, surely they could do so now too? Everybody looked hopeless though. Even Cackletta, through her stony expression, betrayed a hint of grief. He didn't even bother looking at Thymol; the poor boy was thrashing against his bonds to no avail. O'Chunks just stared ahead, suddenly looking a lot more steely than he had ever known him to be. Rose, of all things, looked shocked that this was happening.

The doors opened. Ten soldiers walked in, stood to the sides, and hit their spears on the ground, bowing their heads. After a moment, Dimentio strode in the room, dressed in extravagant kingly attire, adorned with jewels and keeping his purple and yellow preference, though noticeably darker. His mismatched eyes, one larger than the other, looked back and forth to each of them, resting a moment longer on Rose, and a moment even longer on Fawful. In those eyes were a seething anger, and an unmistakable fatigue. He knew from the expression though, that Dimentio wanted to kill them once and for all.

He swallowed his saliva and set his gaze. He would face death with dignity. No yelling. No crying. No exploding. Just death. 'Dimentio,' he said. 'Helloing.'

'Fawful,' Dimentio said, returning the greeting. 'At last we arrive at the end of the line, like a disobedient hound being put down by his bedraggled owner. It is time to die.'

Fawful said nothing. He simply nodded, and grinned with his mouth full of teeth. A wave seemed to pass through the magician, and Dimentio returned the gesture. The last thing they would ever give in each other's presence: their iconic, insane smiles.

Dark Fawful

The dark Bean ran through the halls. He was running out of time! Dimentio was here right now, about to snuff out the life of the only person who could get the Purity Heart to use it against him. What could he do? He still didn't know. If he made a mistake, then he would be killed and everything would be useless. 'Bad news bad news bad news...!' he said, his worried mantra all that was keeping him calm.

An object suddenly flew at him and he jumped aside, letting it soar across the hall and hit the wall with a chime. 'And where do you think _you're_ going?' asked a voice. A person flipped into the dimension, floating in the air. A girl with green skin and hair, neatly separated into pigtails and wearing a light blue dress fringed with lace. Half a dozen large, sharp, red jewels circled around her.

'Hahahahaha!' the boy laughed. 'Mimi! I say to you, hello! It has been a time of longness since I last had the seeing of you!'

The girl's red eyes cut into him. 'Yeah!' she said, giving him a nasty smile. 'I've gotta say, I had no idea this would be the first time I'd see you again, Fawful. All dark and evil and stuff.'

'Darkness is Lord Fawful's power!' he declared. 'The chocolate sauce on the sundae of pain for his enemies such as yourself!'

Mimi's smile turned sweet and she put her hands together, which the evil inventor was ashamed to find actually still put butterflies into his stomach. 'Aw Fawfie, but I hate chocolate!' A Rubee soared at him and he dodged it. 'Or at least your stupid kind!'

Dark Fawful collected energy in his palm. 'I am having no more time for metaphors!' he shouted. 'Move!'

The green girl flipped out of the dimension and appeared behind him. 'Well, I moved!'

The Bean grunted as four Rubees were stabbed into his back; he waved, then spun around and blasted her with his magic. She put her Rubees in front of her and they took the brunt of the blast, shattering to pieces and throwing her back. He collected energy and tensed; the Rubees in his back shattered, the four gaping wounds they left beginning to heal. He snapped his fingers and his Headgear appeared on his head. 'And now you will face the fury of Fawful!'

He flew at her, his Headgear's rockets roaring to life, collecting energy in both his palms and in his Headgear's mouth. Mimi jumped up and summoned a Rubee in her hand, then threw it right at the Headgear's neck; it snapped backwards and shot the ceiling, throwing Dark Fawful off balance. She flew straight at him, kicking him in the face with strength of momentum alone. Pain blossomed across his cheek and he skidded against the ground.

'Wow!' the girl exclaimed, laughing. 'It's been a long time since I've fought anyone!'

Dark Fawful engulfed himself in shadows, flowing quickly behind her and collecting his body back into its natural form. He pressed his palms to the back of her head. 'And it is showing,' he hissed, and blew her forwards with magic.

She spun in the air, disappearing in a puff of pixilated smoke, reappearing as an exact copy of Cackletta. 'Now let's see what kind of abilities this silly old lady's got!' She scrunched up her face and then roared, her body tripling in size and taking on a monstrous appearance. The demonic image of his old mistress awoke a bred-in fear in him and he yelled uncontrollably, dodging the shadowy holes in space that flew at him. A blast of lightning jolted through him and one of the shadows made contact, engulfing him instantly. His entire body felt like it was pushed through a straw, and suddenly it was as if a million tonnes of weight were on top of him. He returned to the world and immediately plummeted hard to the ground.

Another puff of smoke brought Mimi back to her normal self. 'Well that's really awesome actually,' she giggled. 'Can't move well, Fawfie?'

Dark Fawful struggled to get himself standing, but his whole body was weighed down. He could barely lift his head to glare at her, and his arms hung heavily at his sides. 'Fink...r-rat...!' he growled. He collected energy behind him and set his thrusters to full; he blasted the ground behind him and flew through the air. Mimi shrieked as Fawful fell down upon her, grabbing her shoulders and sending them both crashing to the ground.

The weight suddenly lifted and he jumped off of her, spinning around and clenching his fist, shrouded in dark energy. 'Have you readiness for _this?!_' he shouted, and smashed the ground where she was, burning the rug and spraying rubble everywhere.

'I'm ready for anything you've got!' she countered. She swung her arm, using her Rubee as a bludgeon; it smashed the dark Bean on the head, the sharp edge slicing his scalp, but the cut was quickly healed. She flew back and threw a Rubee at him; he jumped up and closed his Headgear's teeth around it. It crunched the Rubee and broke it to pieces, swallowing it. Then he flew at her, turned when she dodged, and spat the Rubee shards back out as a glittering scarlet hailstorm. She dropped down, but not before taking some slices on her body, blood leaking from the wounds. She brought up more Rubees, but Dark Fawful used his own body as a cannonball and smashed against them, bringing Mimi's own Rubees against her and hitting her into a wall.

'I have fury!' he yelled. 'Your readiness is not ready for the rage sauce I am spreading!'

'You want rage?!' she shouted, then smoke obscured his vision. Two scaly, clawed hands gripped his sides, and Mimi, now as Bowser, used her weight to smash him against the floor. 'I'll give you rage!' Fire glowed in the Koopa's throat, and flew out in gouts of bright yellow flames, scorching the floor and heating the Bean up considerably under the barrier he had just created.

'You cannot have the killing of me!' he cried. 'I have protection!'

'I know, but I don't wanna kill you,' the huge turtle rumbled. 'I've just gotta keep you away from our escape!'

'Es...escape?!' he exclaimed.

'That's right, we're busting them all out!' Dark Fawful clenched his teeth against the powerful grip of the Koopa, but under his angry exterior, he couldn't have been more overjoyed. He still had a chance after all! 'Now I'll just keep you here, if it kills me!'

Grinning widely, he pressed a hand against her chest. 'Be careful what you are wishing for!' he told her, and blasted her off of him.

Mimi returned to her normal form, beaten but not defeated. 'All I wish for is to see the worlds back again!'

'Well then you must have death!' Dark Fawful roared. The two enemies flew at each other once more.

Dark Dimentio

Before him, bound helplessly against posts, were his most hated enemies, gazing at him with the most resolve he had seen in them for a very long time. They knew they were going to die. There was no escaping it now. Now, at the end, he found himself smiling again. Finally, he would be victorious. Rose looked betrayed, and she was right to be so; she had made the mistake of trusting him with her life. Those who did that never got out alive.

'Ahahahahaha,' he laughed quietly. 'And now I will end it all. Ciao, O'Chunks. Ciao, Cackletta. Ciao, Rose. Ciao...Fawful.' He waved his hands and brought up a glowing yellow box around each of them. 'Enjoy your last few moments of life before I banish your souls from this world forever.'

'Fawful, I'm sorry!' Rose screamed. 'I'm sorry for everything!' The Bean just kept grinning; he would grin to the very end, he would burn that face into his mind forever. It was the face of a former ally, and the face of his most hated foe.

A loud booming sound coming from the doors of the throne room made him hesitate. The ten guards looked confusedly at the door. Thymol stopped struggling, Rose stopped tensing, and Fawful stopped grinning. Everyone looked past him at the door.

'What _now?!_' the magician snapped, spinning around.

The doors flew open and light from outside poured into the room. A figure strode into the room; it was a woman with long, red hair, white skin contrasting his own people, and clad in black clothes, complete with a coat that was done up just enough to highlight her more seductive features. Her high-heeled shoes clacked against the floor as she walked confidently onto the scene.

'Dimentio!' she exclaimed in fake surprise. 'So nice to see you again!'

'Y..._YOU?!_' he sputtered.

'Sister!' Thymol yelled over the exclamations of Fawful and O'Chunks.

'Sister?' Rose repeated.

Overwhelmed and exasperated panic was rising in him again. 'What in the world are you doing here?!'

'_Well_,' she crooned, leaning over and giving a lustful look that made his spine shiver and his mouth curl in disgust. 'I was in the neighbourhood and heard from the locals that a very exciting event was going to take place today. The problem was, I simply had no idea which man I should bring to the party!' Her smile turned evil and revealed fangs, her demonic features surfacing and casting a shadow over her face. 'So I brought them all.'

'What,' the magician said flatly.

Her eyes glowed and she spread her arms. 'Come in boys!' she called. 'Come in and greet your god for me!'

A rumble of feet for just a moment alerted Dimentio to exactly what was going on. His heart dropped in his chest and horror spread across his face. 'No...' he breathed.

Every single man in the entire village came racing through the doors to the room, a veritable army of dark skin, black hair, and earthshaking feet pouring forth. Some yelled with their faces contorted in betrayed rage, others were simply consumed by infatuated dedication. All were violent, and all came upon their god. Dimentio let loose a roar of absolute ire as countless bodies fell on him, as hands clutched at him and feet stomped against him. The Chaos Heart's barrier protected him from their would-be fatal weight, but he couldn't move.

'_**GET OFF OF ME!**_' he screamed. '_**I AM YOUR GOD! GET OFF!**_' No, this wasn't happening again!

'Thank you so much!' he heard Rose shout above the din.

'No problem. Fawful, go grab your stuff and get out of here quick! Then we'll all get to safety, don't worry!'

'Okayo!' the Bean replied, relief and the after-effects of shock on his tongue.

'_**NO!**_' Dimentio roared, blowing them off of him with a dark blast, reducing his own people to a paste once again. '_**YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME!**_' More and more took their places, and more and more were destroyed. The laughter of Esmine the succubus could be heard above the noise.

Soon, all of them were destroyed. When he took his bearings, the room was empty save for him and for Esmine. He was panting with rage, surrounded by the disgusting remains of his people, his eyes wide and his teeth grinding harshly against each other. 'Oh...all the men are dead,' she pouted. 'The women will be sad. Oh well.'

'You...' he seethed. '_Do you have any idea what you've done?!_'

She smiled. 'Yep.' She walked towards him, her heels tapping against the floor. 'You know, as soon as I revived and heard you were alive, I got so _excited_.' Dimentio didn't even move, he just stood there, glaring at her. She couldn't hurt him. 'Very few people make me feel quite like you do~'

'You'll get...no such luck...with me...' he snarled, his anger barely containable.

'Oh I beg to differ,' she cooed. As she came up in front of him, the Chaos Heart's barrier came up, protecting him. 'After all...I've been waiting for this for a long time.' She put her hands on the barrier and dug her fingers in, which had begun to glow with a white light. Then, they got through.

He was struck dumb; his mouth dropped. 'What...what are you doing?!' he demanded.

'The Purity Heart's energy is everywhere now,' she told him, her voice rich with smug enjoyment. 'There's so much of it in the air that I can _move_ it.' Her whole hands went right through the barrier.

'Stop...stop!' he yelled, backing up against the edge of the barrier.

'Of course, it's not enough that I could kill you...that would be too much. But it's just enough for this.' Her body broke through and she planted her hands on his shoulders. He couldn't do anything, he was in too much shock.

_Chaos Heart, what is going on?!_

_'She's breaking through the barrier!'_

_**Stop her!**_

Esmine's eyes gazed into his. 'Pucker up~' she said softly.

She kissed him on the lips, pressing him against the wall of the barrier. Dimentio's whole being recoiled in horror as her tongue slid between his lips. Her teeth bit into his mouth and he felt a slimy substance pour into the bite; he realized too late that it was going to paralyze his body. Then, she broke the kiss and grinned at the magician's utter disbelief. 'You...' he spat, humiliation and anger welling up in him again.

She pressed a finger to his lips, her next words coming out in a venomous hiss. 'Now...kneel.' Then, she brought her foot up and kicked him hard in the groin with the tip of her heeled shoe.

Dimentio's entire middle was hit with agonizing shocks of pain, and a strangled gasp came out his mouth. His eyes bulged and he immediately fell to his knees, the pain still fresh and making him twitch. He coughed, his breath coming out in laboured croaks. Esmine laughed and hopped out of his barrier, leaving him lying on the ground clutching himself, staring up at her with loathing. 'I'll k-kill you...' he whispered.

'Not for a little while you won't.' She winked at him. He could already feel his body beginning to seize up from the venom going through his system. 'Don't worry...we'll all be coming back to see you soon enough.' She turned around and began to walk out, waving at him with dainty fingers. 'Ciao~!'

She shut the doors behind him, leaving him alone. He laid on the ground in agony, unable to move a muscle.

Light Dimentio

Light Dimentio sat on his throne, staring expectantly at the doors at the entrance to the room. Esmine had left some time ago. Her instructions had been to go in, do what she was so good at doing, get Fawful and his allies out, and bring them directly here. He was sure she would have indulged herself as well, but it should be a quick job.

He was moving his fingers along the edges of an object he held on his lap; it was his mask, split down the middle with black covering one half and white covering the other. It once mimicked his expressions, but now it was inert, its red and black half-moon eyes and its red mouth fixed in a playful, smiling expression. Despite the endless amounts of duplicates he had crafted over his life, this was the original that Rosabella had made for him. She kept looking at it, the memories of the day it had first come into his hands resurfacing more and more with every glance.

'It's been a long time,' the former princess said, breaking the silence, 'but you're finally going to meet him. The good part of Fawful.'

'Mm, yes,' he replied. 'It has been a long battle indeed, though it is far from over.'

A two-dimensional box was drawn up and Mimi flipped into the room, looking beaten and haggard. She stumbled a bit, and her face looked pained. 'H-hey guys,' she chirped.

'Mimi!' the magician said, standing up and floating down to her. 'Are you all right?'

She leaned on him. 'Yeah, I'm fine...just had to hold off Dark Fawful while Esmine freed the Light one.' She giggled. 'He fights pretty well!'

He snapped his fingers and a Mushroom appeared in his hand. The things had begun growing rampantly lately, no doubt due to Fawful's connection with them. 'Eat this,' he told her, and she took the shroom and munched it gratefully. Some of her wounds healed.

'Thanks,' she said, giving him a smile. The magician returned to the throne.

There were a few knocks on the doors and they opened up. Esmine walked into the room, looking very pleased with herself. 'I'm back!' she declared, spreading her arms wide.

He sat up in his chair. 'Well? Was it a success?'

'Oh, it was a _wonderful_ success,' she chuckled. 'They're all here.'

The king realized he was beginning to feel anxious. He would have to come face-to-face with Fawful. Even if they were both the manifestations of their more benevolent traits, this didn't come without some bad feelings. 'Well then,' he said quietly. 'Bring them all in.'

She turned around. 'All right guys,' she called behind her. 'He wants to see you now.' She walked fully into the room and took her place across from Mimi.

The sound of approaching footsteps echoed throughout the room as O'Chunks, Rose, Esmine's brother Thymol, Cackletta, and finally Fawful entered. They stopped in the middle and stared up at him, their expressions ranging from distaste to unease to indifference.

'Hello,' he said to them all. 'At last we have the pleasure of meeting.' He spun his mask in mid-air above his knees. 'I am the one who has been guiding you this whole time through my assistant, princess Rosabella.' He fixed his eyes on Fawful, who looked ready to shrink before him. 'I will not bother with my usual string of monikers. The time for playfulness is at an end.' He stopped the mask with his hands, and its face stared at them along with his. 'I am Dimentio. Though, as you might have guessed, I am not the one you have been fighting to kill this entire time.'

The Bean boy hesitantly stepped forward, shaking. 'Where...' he said, his voice small. 'Where is this being?'

'The world the Void created,' he answered, 'was split into two. One half is inhabited by your enemy and all of his people. The other is inhabited by me, and by the humans created by the split that brought you and I into being along with our darker selves.'

'So...' he said. His voice was quavering. 'So we have...safety?'

There was a moment of pause. Light Dimentio felt pity and sorrow well up in him, looking at the Bean. 'Yes,' he answered. 'You were brought here by Esmine. In order to come here, you must know where it is, as is true with any location. Our foes do not. It is possible they could traverse the world and find the other half with relative ease, but with the Purity Heart's energy at its strongest here, and with the distance between them and us so great, it is unlikely they will bother. This is your asylum. You will be safe here. You can sleep, you can eat. Your running and fighting is at a temporary end.'

When he said this, the magician saw ages and ages of strife and pain appear all over the Bean's face. Every single terrible day that had passed since the revival from the Underwhere that had started it all, so long ago, suddenly made its mark. Every loss, every wound, and all the fatigue that the boy had suffered came up, and he sighed a sigh that contained in it all of the weight he carried inside of him.

Fawful dropped to his knees, lowered his face to the ground, and cried, sobbing with relief.


	30. Chapter 30: Questions

Chapter 30: Questions

Light Fawful

Fawful laid on the huge bed with his limbs splayed out. He was wearing nothing but boxers, as his clothes at this point had been completely wrecked, and was relishing the feeling of the soft fabric against his bare skin.

He could feel himself winding down. He knew he would have to get himself back into a mood for combat before long — Light Dimentio told him that he would have to undertake a dangerous task to make up for the destruction of the final shrine — but for now, he was becoming calmer. He felt lighter, and though he couldn't say he was happy, he was certainly filled with less grief than he had been in a while.

He took a deep breath; the air smelled faintly of flowers and some sort of weak perfume. The lighting was nice, the room's general colours were a comforting blue, and a servant had left him various small foods to have. They were a much-needed change from the things he had stuffed into his storage cube to eat as rations, and already he was reaching for another one. He hadn't felt this hungry in his entire life.

He sat up and put on his swirled glasses, his blurred vision becoming clear. He should go out and just talk to people. Forget the things looming over him and just chat like nothing ever happened.

As it was, he was in his underwear, and that would be a bit embarrassing.

Someone knocked on the door. 'I have new clothes for you,' said a voice from behind the door. 'I'll just toss them in.'

'Okayo,' Fawful called. The door opened and his clothes flopped onto the ground, then it closed again. He hopped off the bed and got dressed in his usual black clothes and red cape rimmed with gold. The repairs were perfect, and it smelled new and immaculately clean.

He walked out the door, making sure to grab another piece of food and cramming it into his mouth before leaving.

He walked around the town. It was amazing how much different everything seemed here. The sky seemed bluer. The grass seemed greener. The air smelled cleaner. Even the people, though they wore expressions that were underlined with anxiety and fear, seemed so much more _alive_ than they had in Dark Dimentio's side of the world. The children playing games seemed brighter and happier, the elderly people who gazed at those around them seemed far more at peace. He'd seen a couple sitting together once, with one person's head lying on the other's shoulder, both of their faces kept in blissful expressions. They had held hands. It was a shocking thing to Fawful, the hand-holding. It wasn't anything he had ever seen in the dark magician's people. They all just existed with a cause, never stopping to smell the roses, never capable of understanding what roses even were and why they were so beautiful.

His foot crunched under something. Speak of the devil, it was a rose; its white petals were crushed and smeared with dirt. A brief sensation of sadness went through Fawful, as if he'd just snuffed out a life. _It is just being a flower,_ he reminded himself. He picked it, looked at the misshapen head; it didn't look so beautiful now, but he was sure it was before he stepped on it. He wondered what his dark half would think of this flower. He wondered what he would have thought of it before he split into light and dark, and what he would have thought of it before he died the first time.

He knew the answer to the last one. He would have sooner eaten the flower than appreciated its beauty, and he knew by extension that Dark Fawful would probably sooner burn down the flower and the entire field it was in. Was it better to be incapable of understanding beauty, or to be malevolent to it? He didn't know. Dark Dimentio's people would never burn or eat roses. What would be the point? But Fawful, though...

Dimentio certainly would have created a world without strife, had he not come along. He shifted and his mouth set into an uncomfortable expression as he thought, and not for the first time, that maybe the jester had been right after all.

Then he remembered the boy's face after he'd found his father dead, killed at the hands of Fawful; it had been completely without compassion or attachment. He remembered the almost emotionless voices of the guards that visited him in his dark counterpart's dungeon. They were without a crucial portion of the soul, a portion that even he and Dimentio still had inside of them despite their wickedness.

'Fawful!' A voice touched his ears.

'Rose?' he said, turning around. 'What are you—?'

He stopped when he saw the green skin and hair, and his heart skipped a beat. Mimi ran up to meet him and wrapped her arms around him in an ecstatic hug, making Fawful flush. 'Fawful, I'm alive!' the shapeshifter beamed, grinning. 'It's so good to see you again!'

'M...Mimi...!' he gasped, returning her hug. 'I have elation! You are being okay!' He grinned at her and he realized tears were falling from his eyes. He wiped them with his cloak. His whole body was shaking with joy; he had missed her so, so much.

She smiled sweetly, and everything he loved about her came rushing back. 'Yep, I came back! Lots of people did, actually.' She pointed out a Goomba walking down the street, eying everybody warily; not many foreign creatures ever went into towns, apparently.

Her eyes caught the sight of the white rose in his hand and her expression changed slightly. 'What...what're you holding there, Fawful?'

He looked at the destroyed flower. 'Oh, this? It is being nothing.' He tossed it onto the ground beside them. He didn't notice it himself, but Mimi's eyes watched the flower fall, trailing on it for a moment before returning to the Bean, back to looking chipper.

'You had some close calls though, jeez. I can't be around to save you all the time, you know.' She winked at him.

He smiled widely. 'I had the missing of you,' he sighed happily. 'I...I am so glad you are being back.'

She returned the smile. 'You're a great friend, Fawful. A really great friend.'

_Friend._ The word punctured him, and his grin vanished. He remembered her dying words, back before the worlds ended. _'I...still love...Dim...en...'_ A grip closed around his throat.

'Fawful? Are you okay...?'

The Bean realized that he had his teeth grit tightly. He tried to loosen up. 'Y...yesing!' he lied. 'You are being Fawful's friend too!' He tried to grin, but it came out as an awkward grimace.

The girl looked away sadly. 'You've still got feelings for me...' she said quietly. Fawful swallowed, then nodded. 'I'm sorry...'

'Whying?' he asked her. 'Why Dimentio? He had the killing of you. Of everyone!'

'Shut up!' Mimi suddenly snapped at him, her face red and angry. 'How could you say such a thing?!' There was a ripple of concern among the people around them; they started leaving the area awkwardly. 'I don't need to give you a reason for anything!'

The two glared at each other for a moment, then Mimi broke the lock and sighed, rubbing her arm with her other hand. Fawful felt his own anger flush out of him, albeit more slowly. 'I...have apology,' he said to her.

'Me too...' she replied. 'I'm sorry, I just...can't help it, Fawful.' He supposed he couldn't help it either. 'Besides...' She attempted an condoling smile. 'There are other girls, right? Not just me.'

'But I am loving _you,_' the Bean pleaded.

'What about Rose?'

Fawful's eyes widened and he almost choked on his own saliva. 'Wh...what?!'

'Yeah, she and I talked a bit. Don't look at me like that!' she added hastily at the return of his glare.

'Rose is being _you,_' he reminded her.

'_Pffft!_' Mimi snorted, grinning widely. 'Are you kidding me? We couldn't be more different! Yeah, we look almost exactly the same, but we're different people. You know that.'

Fawful did know that, but it didn't stop the growing embarrassment and frustration that was taking root inside of him. Now that Mimi was back, his feelings for Rose seemed negligible in comparison. He sighed. Then he sighed again. 'It...is good to be seeing you again, Mimi.'

She hugged him again, and for once the Bean wanted nothing more than to shove her off of him and scream. Instead, he hugged her back. 'It's good to see you again too, Fawfie.' The use of the pet name made him feel worse. 'I've gotta go now!' she told him after they let go. 'I just wanted to say hi again.' She probably knew how uncomfortable he was. Thank Grambi she was observant. 'I'll see you later!' She ran off, leaving him waving at her as she left, leaving a cluster of emotions raging inside him in her wake.

Rose

'Here is your tea.' The servant placed two ornate cups on the table, bowed, then left.

Rose picked one up carefully; whatever material it was, it was clearly very valuable. She blew on her tea; the sweet-smelling drink was clearly very hot. 'I've never seen things like this,' she admitted.

'No? I've drunk outta plenty. Bein' a general gives yeh special stuff.' The burly man grinned, then closed two of his meaty fingers around the cup's handle and took a very deliberate sip. The liquid would have scalded any other man, but O'Chunks seemed to have armour on his tongue as well as on his body. 'Better than the tea me mum used teh make,' he said, then chuckled.

'Is that difficult?' Rose had a smile on her face too.

'Me mum's tea woulda made all yer hair fall out. I think some poor lad went off sick once.'

'So no then.' The girl giggled. O'Chunks was so funny when he had time to be. The man was hunched up in a chair far too small for him, with his knees propped up against him, his torso and head towering over the table. His enormous hands holding carefully onto the dainty little tea cup was a sight to behold, and she giggled a bit more.

'Aaah...' the man sighed, sipping the tea again. 'S'great teh not have teh run from anyone n'just enjoy a drink. Though I'da preferred somethin' with a bit o' a kick to it.'

'I'm sure our good Destroyer of Worlds doesn't want a drunken, bearded oaf lumbering around his castle and getting friendly with the staff.' Esmine approached them with Thymol hanging off her arm. She was clad, surprisingly in a very modest dress with no frills, the least exposed they'd ever seen her. 'This loser,' she told them, giving the boy a playful tap on the back of the head, 'wanted me to wear something "not horrifying" for once.'

'Dresses suit you better,' he quipped. 'And...anything else that you don't usually wear also suits you better.'

'People just don't understand succubi...' she sighed.

'Oh, is that what you are?' Rose asked. She felt her cup again; the tea was still hot, though O'Chunks had taken a few more sips. 'That explains what you did with Dimentio's men.'

'Yep! Though they couldn't feel love at first. Had to expose them to a bit of the Purity Heart's energy to do the trick.' A wicked grin spread across her face and her demonic features surfaced. 'Thought you might want to know, I kicked that rotten demon where it hurts.' Rose and O'Chunks both laughed.

Esmine pulled up two chairs and she and her brother sat down. 'Is this a tea party?' Thymol asked, staring up at the large man and smirking. O'Chunks answered no, Rose answered yes. They briefly glanced at each other, then chuckled. 'Can I have some tea?'

'I'm sure the servants will bring you some if you ask nicely,' Rose answered. The boy gave a nod of approval.

Esmine reached over and took O'Chunks' tea. ''Ey!' he cried in protest. 'Tha's mine, yeh bloomin thief!'

Esmine gave him a quick look with her glowing eyes, which caused O'Chunks to suddenly blush and promptly shut up. 'I see no problem here,' the succubus chuckled.

'It's not nice to mind control people,' Thymol reminded her tersely.

'It's more like heart control.'

'That's not nice either!'

'Whatever!' Esmine sighed. 'Listen.' She took a sip of O'Chunks' tea, not seeming to mind the heat as much as Rose did. She wondered if maybe she just had a sensitive tongue. 'Firstly, I owe you something.' She reached over and smacked Rose across the cheek. Pain blossomed across her face; her mouth hung open in shock. 'That's for kidnapping the Princess.' Esmine glared at her. 'I don't know what you were thinking at all, but whatever you did it nearly got _all_ of us killed!'

'I...' Rose turned red. It had all happened as Dimentio had wanted it to. Get Fawful out of control, get everyone in one spot using Rosabella as bait, and then kill them. 'I'm sorry...'

'It's fine. Fawful's at fault a bit too, though I can hardly blame him for not trusting Dimentio, even if it wasn't the same one.' She took another sip of tea. 'But the next time you decide to be cavalier, think with your brain for a bit.'

'Sorry...' she muttered again. She felt so stupid; she should have just taken her chances going against Dimentio, especially since she would have died anyway had his plan gone perfectly.

'Secondly...Dimentio wants to talk to you. The good one,' she corrected. 'Though I'm sure the other one would like to exchange a few words as well.' She gulped back the rest of the tea, then half-placed, half-threw the incredibly delicate cup onto the table in front of O'Chunks. 'Thanks for the tea, O'Hunks.'

'Me name's O'Chunks...'

'Anyway, he wants to talk with you,' the demoness said, turning her attention back to Rose. 'And Mimi, too. He says it's really important.'

Rose suddenly felt uncomfortable; she didn't like being around Mimi. Being around Rosabella, who looked almost exactly identical to her, was bad enough (not to mention they shared the same name, which got confusing), but Mimi _was_ her, in a manner of speaking. Every time they were in the same room together she felt really bizarre, like she was looking into a funhouse mirror, seeing her own self yet knowing that it wasn't. She knew Mimi felt the same way, though the shapeshifter took it out on Rose by using her powers to get on her nerves. She really hated spiders...

'Why does he want to see me?' she asked Esmine.

'I dunno. He wouldn't tell me. He says it's absolutely important though, and that you need to see him as soon as possible.'

'When're the servants gonna come?' Thymol asked. 'I want tea.'

The white girl stared into her cup. What could Light Dimentio want with her and Mimi? She had a very bad feeling she wasn't going to like the answer. 'All right,' she said. 'I'll go.' She passed her tea over to Thymol. 'You can have that, I'm not going to drink it.'

'Awesome,' the boy quipped, then took a huge drink and spat the steaming liquid out all over a now-disgruntled O'Chunks. Rose said goodbye and left the table, which had devolved into loud, Scottish-accented shouts and cries from the two siblings.

Light Fawful

Fawful had returned to his room, lying on his bed again and nursing the emotional wounds that had begun to open back up. He knew it had been useless. Mimi was never going to be his. But he had still hoped, somehow, that he had a chance, and he felt absolutely terrible.

_'What about Rose?'_

He curled his lips in self-disgust. He had actually fallen for her, and he knew it had nothing to do with her technically being Mimi. Rose was different. She possessed a softer, quieter aura compared to the harder Mimi. The shapeshifter was confident, powerful, even a little wicked depending on the circumstances. Rose wasn't. She was nervous and carried herself with a feeling of doubt. Rose had appealed to him in a way that Mimi hadn't.

Suddenly, they both seemed a lot smaller than they had been before. Fawful groaned and buried his face in a pillow, trying to quell the conflicting emotions raging inside of him. All that time spent before the worlds' end fawning over Mimi, and then she dies and he meets Rose and suddenly it doesn't seem to matter anymore. Then Mimi comes back and his feelings for Rose are suppressed. What would happen if Rose came in and spoke to him now? Would he forget about Mimi? What if some other, third girl arrived? What then? Did it even matter?

Before the split into Light and Dark Fawful, the Bean would have wanted to break something, blow something up. He could feel the fury inside of him, but the compulsion to destroy was gone. It wouldn't be good, and that's exactly what he was. He was good. Somehow, that didn't sit well with him. He felt like he was missing a part of himself, and suddenly wondered if it were possible that he could confront his doppelganger and become one person again.

The door opened suddenly and Cackletta walked in. 'Hey!' he shouted. 'You should have the knocking first!' He sat up. He really didn't want to talk with anybody right now.

'What's _knocking?_' the Bean witch sneered. Fawful didn't know whether that was her way of telling him to bite her, or whether her sheer lack of experience with politeness and social interaction actually extended to never having knocked on a door in her life. She closed it behind her. 'I saw you duck in here earlier. You looked like a grounded child.'

The boy propped his knees up against his chest. 'Fawful does not get grounded.'

'Don't give me a challenge to take up,' the woman snickered. She sat on the bed next to him. 'So, what's your problem?'

'It is being stupid,' he told her, and turned away.

'I bet it is, but it's either tell me or gain three hundred pounds.' Her features turned a shade more monstrous and a chill went down the Bean's spine at the mention of her most powerful attack. He then told her about his feelings for Mimi and Rose, Mimi's feelings for Dimentio (this made Cackletta make a sound somewhere between a growl and a snort), and what Mimi had brought up. It felt strange, divulging so much information about his feelings. It was embarrassing, to be sure, but also calming.

'So...' he finished. 'I am not knowing what to do.'

Cackletta gave this conundrum a moment's thought. 'Well,' she said. 'Forget them both, I'd say.'

'What? That has insanity!'

'Are you kidding? If neither of them like you, just forget about them. It's the easiest thing.'

'But...' He stared at his knees. 'But I cannot.'

'You forgot about the green girl when the white one came along,' the witch reminded him pointedly. 'And then you forgot about the white girl when the green one was back.' A sour feeling spread across his throat. 'Eventually, a third one's going to come along and you'll forget about both of them. Then a fourth one will, and you'll forget about all three. Besides...did you ever really have a chance with either? And, do you really _want_ to?'

That got his attention. 'What are you attempting to vocalize to me?'

'Do you really want to get all lovey-dovey with anybody? Even if that ever happened, what would you do then? Devote all your time to them? Surely not.' She fixed him with her gaze, and as he stared into her purple eyes he felt thrown back into a younger body from times gone by. Nostalgia welled up in him, though also fear. 'That's not how you work, Fawful. You have _ambition_. You have _goals_. And if anybody ever got close to you, the entire thing would crumble to dust, because they wouldn't be able to handle it.'

He bit his lip. 'I am not feeling ambitious,' he said truthfully.

'Well, you're also the _good_ Fawful. I've heard tell that your dark self and that green girl had a tussle back when the succubus was saving our hides. She could have died. He definitely would have killed her.'

He felt like someone punched him in the chest. 'But...but he should have love for her too!' he protested.

'I bet he does,' Cackletta replied. 'But I also bet he'll never let emotions get in the way of anything he wants. He's the villain in you.'

'What is a villain being, even?' he sighed, frustrated. 'I am not even knowing!'

'What do you mean?' the woman asked, shocked. 'You're a villain. I am too.'

'But...' He grabbed at the air, at a loss for words. 'I am not knowing. I had the thinking that I had villainy—'

'We destroyed Beanbean Castle Town,' she reminded him. 'Twice.'

'Yesing, I have remembering. And I had the Blorbifying of the Toads and the taking-over of the castles of the Peach and the Bowser.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Impressive. Though I'm not sure I want to know what "Blorbifying" means.'

'They had the blowing up.'

'_Grambi,_ Fawful!' she exclaimed.

'No I mean...they had the fattening!' His face turned red.

'...oh. Well that's...better?' She laughed.

'That is what I am meaning!' he groaned. 'I have never had the killing of anyone. I tried to have the killing of the mustache brothers, but everyone else...I had the sparing of them, even when I could have had the killing of them. And so did you! You had the killing of my parents, and could have had the killing of me, but you had the raising of me instead!'

A shadow of pain crossed her face. 'You've got me there.'

'We had the taking-over of places, and we had the hurting of people, but what about the time that is now? We are fighting against Dimentio, we are being heroes! And what of Dimentio? Is he being a villain? Is he a villain of greatness? Of more greatness than us? What is villainy?'

The question had stunned Cackletta, and clearly she had no immediate answer. 'I...I don't know.'

The two of them stared at the door. Nobody came in or out. This was probably a good thing, because neither of them wanted company. 'I am just...not knowing what I _am,_' the Bean muttered. 'What is Lord Fawful? What is Mistress Cackletta?'

'I have no idea,' the Bean witch said. 'Do we really need to know?'

'I am wanting to,' the boy answered firmly. 'We held the frightening sign of villainy over us for a time of longness, and used it to show others the tasty feast of pain which we would deliver to them and their houses. But if we are not being villains, then what meaning did it have?'

For the first time, he had silenced his mistress. She stared into nothing, lost in thought. 'I think...' she said. 'Being a villain is being prepared to do terrible things for the sake of what you desire. To hurt people because of what you want to achieve, and to be perfectly fine with it.'

'Are you fine with giving pain to others, Cackletta?'

She looked at him; again she had no answer, and he saw in her eyes that she was heavily conflicted. 'I don't know. Are you?'

'Noing.' He almost jumped; the answer had come immediately and without thinking. He really was _Light_ Fawful after all.

'You've really changed, Fawful.' Cackletta's voice was melancholy. 'You aren't the boy I raised.'

He smiled and made a quick cutting motion across his chest. 'Perhaps asking the Fawful of darkness will give you more happiness?'

'I think I'd rather you whole again.' The witch sighed, then grinned. 'The other Fawful's an enormous ham.'

A knock on the door snapped them out of their moment. 'Seeing?' the Bean boy said. 'That is being knocking.'

'I know what knocking is you balding freak,' the witch snarled. Fawful made a shrieking sound and clutched at the tuft of black hair on his head.

The door opened and a servant popped his head in. 'Good afternoon, Master Fawful. Miss Cackletta.' He looked at the boy. 'His Highness would like to see you.'

Fawful soon found himself standing before Dimentio. Even though he knew for a fact that he was in no danger and that this Dimentio was the good half, his eyes still made the Bean fearful for his life. 'Fawful!' the magician had exclaimed as he walked through the throne room doors. 'At last you arrive, like a guest of honour at a twelve-course buffet!' Everybody of note was present; the princess, Mimi, Rose, Esmine and Thymol, and O'Chunks. He and Cackletta completed the group.

'Hopefully it is being a buffet of sweet safety,' he muttered.

'Unfortunately, you could not be farther from the truth. It is a buffet of trials and tribulations.'

'Oh. Woopie,' the Bean huffed.

The king sighed. 'I know, it is a dreadful thing, the fighting you do. But you know it is for the fate of every being in existence.'

Fawful begrudgingly nodded. 'What are you wanting me to do?'

'As you know, the final Purity Heart monument was destroyed, by your dark half no less.' He began to float in the air, idly doing slow spins. Fawful followed his movements, tense, as if the man would strike at any moment. 'Thankfully, your consciousness thought to implement a Plan B just in case Plan A was compromised.' Everybody perked up at this news. 'There is a shrine behind this castle, dedicated to the Purity Heart. There is a similar one in my dark half's realm, though I am not quite sure what purpose it serves.' He fixed an eye on Fawful, and the Bean could tell he absolutely hated having to put him through this. 'The shrine is one last trial, an utter gauntlet of foes that you must fight your way through, perhaps more dangerous than any foe fought thus far. With the exception of the creator of this world himself, of course.'

'It is sounding excellent!' the Bean shouted. 'I am being so excited for it! It is just what Fawful needed, more dying! Fawful can never have enough dying!'

A flicker of regret passed the king's face. 'Indeed,' he said, less committed to the sarcasm. Rosabella gave the magician a look of pity. 'There is a more hopeful aspect of your task, however. The shrine is crawling with spirits. It is there, in fact, that I first encountered Rosabella.' He gestured to the pink-haired woman. 'Perhaps you will meet an old friend or two. In the end, when you manage to triumph, the way to the Purity Heart will finally be opened. Dimentio will be at our knees.'

'I notice you said "when" we triumph,' Cackletta said.

'I have the utmost faith in you,' Light Dimentio responded. The magician's smile seemed genuine enough, but Fawful still saw malice. Maybe it was just out of habit. He looked at Fawful. 'Do you accept the task laid before you?'

He hesitated for but a moment; he wanted to say no, he didn't want to risk his life anymore, he was tired of almost dying, he just wanted to lie down and rest and be safe here forever. He kept remembering the Beanbean Kingdom, though, and the Mushroom Kingdom, and all of their inhabitants, and despite the selfishness that had plagued him all of his life, he knew that what he wanted more than anything in the world right now was to do anything to set things right. 'I have accept,' he said.

'I'll go too,' Mimi piped up. 'There's no way Fawful's going alone.'

'I'll be comin' with 'em too!' O'Chunks said, grinning and pounding his breastplate.

He looked around. No other volunteers, apparently. Rose shied away. Cackletta shrugged. Esmine just held her brother's hand. Dimentio and Rosabella weren't going to be going anywhere. The two former members of Count Bleck's crew walked over to his sides. O'Chunks gave him a pat on the back, and Mimi smiled sympathetically. Fawful returned the smile, despite not really meaning it.

'Have you sufficiently prepared?' he asked them.

Fawful nodded and patted his storage cube. 'It is all being here.' He had restocked.

'Excellent. Are you ready to depart at once?'

He looked at his two companions; they seemed as ready as he was. Now was as good a time as there ever would be. 'Yesing,' he answered. 'Let us have battle once more.'


	31. Chapter 31: Open the Way

Chapter 31: Open the Way

Light Dimentio

The benevolent magician floated above his castle, watching the throngs of people busy themselves. His castle town had become more lively as of late due to the influx of otherworldly entities. Many of them stayed to the outskirts, not wanting to get near his people, but a number of them braved the new town and its inhabitants. They seemed to be drawn, somewhat, to the town. It made sense; the Purity Heart's energy was at its zenith here, due to the shrine behind his castle.

'Are you sure we should be up this high?'

He looked sideways at Rosabella, who was standing on a shimmering block of magic he had created for her. She had her arms wrapped around her, and though she tried her best to conceal it, some of her fear was seeping through into her face. 'I don't see why not,' he responded.

'What if I fall? That's a long way down.'

'I'll catch you.'

'With what, another one of these?' She tapped the block with her foot. 'I'll break my bones!'

'I would make a softer block. I've no interest in causing you pain, Princess.'

'Oh?' She was genuinely surprised. 'That's a change in attitude.' She smirked at him.

He started. 'I...suppose it is.' He crossed his legs in midair. It was true; Rosabella's presence didn't arouse in him the anger that it once had. 'Look at them all,' he said. 'All these denizens of other dimensions, gravitating towards us. The worlds are waking up.'

'Yeah, they are.' The princess sighed, and looked up. 'You know, back before you...' She hesitated. 'Back before I died, if I'd been told other dimensions existed I would have laughed them out of the room, yet here I am, floating above one you created yourself.' He didn't bother reminding her that it was the malevolent Dimentio, and not he, who created it. It just wasn't worth it.

'It is a lot to take in, certainly,' he told her. 'And yet you have also played a large part in saving every world to ever exist.'

'Yeah...that's difficult to fully grasp.' Rosabella suddenly saw something. 'What's that?'

A plume of flame blazed in the distance, and a faint roar could be heard. 'Clearly something very dangerous,' the man noted. Then, his eyes widened. 'Oh no.'

'It's coming into the town!' Rosabella exclaimed.

He snapped his fingers and the two of them appeared in his castle. 'Rose, I need you to stay safe. If you see any of the others, get them to safety as well.' She nodded.

He bolted out the door and flew through the streets, his heart pounding. His citizens were running behind cover and to safety from the monster barrelling through the town. '_DIMENTIO!_' it roared. '_GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!_'

'Oh Grambi why now of all times?' he groaned. 'When the others who can truly fight are occupied?'

He made to turn a corner and found the monster right in his face. '_THERE YOU ARE!_' it bellowed. '_NOW I'M GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT!_'

A huge fist smashed into him, sending him cartwheeling head-over-heels and skidding on the stone ground. He landed on his back, staring up at the beast. 'W-well!' he said, grinning, as pained as he was. 'Greetings Bowser! It has been a long time, has it not?'

'You frigging bet it has!' the gigantic, spiked Koopa growled, smoke issuing from between his sharp teeth. 'And you also bet that I'm gonna pound you into confetti you freak!' He brought his hands up and Dimentio created a dimensional barrier around him; the scaled fists smashed into it and the magician grunted under the force. He teleported behind the turtle.

'Now now, don't you think you're taking this a _bit_ too far?' he said.

'_LIKE THE UNDERWHERE I AM!_' was the response, and another fist swung his way. He dodged it, but the Koopa punched a hole in a house. '_YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!_'

'Are you quite sure you don't have the wrong dimension-bending jester?' he asked. A grin had spread around his face; Bowser was so easy to poke fun at.

'I know there's only one of them, and it's you!' He swung another fist and he teleported out of the way, then Bowser grabbed him and engulfed him in flames, which parted across his dimensional barrier.

'Get off of our king!' shouted a voice. A small group of soldiers, armed with swords and shields, rushed at him.

Suddenly he no longer felt like joking, and legitimate terror shot through him. 'No!' he cried. 'Stay away, this doesn't concern you!'

Bowser punched one soldier, who blocked it with his shield but was sent sprawling. One stabbed his sword at the Koopa, puncturing his leg. He roared in pain and spun around, hitting the man with a killing force. He crashed into a wall and slumped, unmoving.

The magician roared and hit Bowser with a dimensional blast, making him fly down the street and into the wall of another building. 'How dare you attack my people?!' he yelled.

'You're one to talk!' Bowser shot back, building up a fire in his mouth.

'Stop!' two voices called in unison.

Both combatants stopped and looked. 'Peach...' Bowser said. 'I thought I told you to leave this clown to me!'

Peach smashed him with a frying pan she likely got from a local kitchen, making Bowser whimper. 'You just ran off without even listening to me!'

'Sorry...'

'Dimentio, are you okay?' Rosabella asked him. 'Did you get hurt?'

'He...got one punch in.' He brushed himself off. 'I am fine.'

'What the heck is going on here?!' Bowser exclaimed. 'Why's everyone fawning over that psychopath?!'

The three of them looked at the Koopa. 'I think, my arm-flailing friend,' he said, 'that you should have a seat and listen to my tale.' He looked at the blonde-haired princess. 'Princess Peach, how wonderful to see you again. I see your beauty is no less enchanting than before.'

Peach responded with a less-than-pleasant look. 'I only heard a little bit from her,' she told him, pointing at the other princess present. 'I'll need to hear your tale too before I trust you completely.'

'Fair enough. Let us move this talk elsewhere.' He paused and looked at the man slumped against the wall; he was dissolving into a mist, just as Dark Dimentio's people were reduced to a disgusting paste upon their demises. He felt unpleasant, but not necessarily sad; they weren't real. They just walked around, animated by the Purity Heart's energy. If they lost that, they'd fall over and die. If all went well, every one of his people would meet the same end.

He just hoped that all would go well after all.

Light Fawful

'Fawful! Are you okay?!'

He ducked behind a pillar and blasted at a monster that had been pursuing him. 'I am being as okay as is possible to be!'

The monster ripped the pillar apart, knocking stones everywhere. The Bean ran from it to avoid the falling debris, and watched as O'Chunks smashed into the creature and brought it down. 'Get down, yeh lard-filled mongrel!' he cried, bringing his fists down on it. 'Uncle O'Chunks' is 'ere teh tame yeh!'

Fawful rocketed off into the air and intercepted the second creature that Mimi was fighting. Rubees jutted out from its back, but it was still going strong. He closed his Headgear's jaws around its neck and bit down hard; bones snapped and it gasped, then collapsed to the ground, dissolving. Stealing his Headgear from his dark-half's castle was one of the best decisions he'd ever made.

Mimi was breathing hard. 'Thanks Fawful...' she panted. 'These things are so hard to beat...'

O'Chunks crashed onto the ground in front of them, making them both jump. 'Ack!' the Bean cried. 'They are indeed possessing hardness!'

'I've got this one Fawful,' the green girl told him, summoning Rubees in her hands. 'You help O'Chunks.'

The Bean took out a Mushroom and popped it into the man's mouth; he ate it gratefully. 'Thanks, laddie,' he said.

'You are being welcome,' the Bean replied.

Mimi brought down the monster and a hole appeared in the floor, revealing a staircase to a lower room. 'On to the next one, I guess,' she said.

''Ow many floors are there gonna be?' O'Chunks complained. 'We've already gone through...a bunch.'

'I dunno,' the shapeshifter replied. 'But we can't turn back now.'

'This has truth,' the benevolent Fawful agreed. 'Let us have continue.'

The temple was, like the other Purity Heart monuments, a structure which contained within it a pocketed dimension. Unlike the other ones, it was organized into a series of floors, each of which contained puzzles they had to solve, monsters they had to kill, or both, if luck frowned upon them. This wouldn't have made them bat an eye if not for the fact that the puzzles were fairly difficult to anybody of standard intelligence (naturally Fawful completed them with relative ease), and that the monsters were some of the most powerful and bloodthirsty they had ever fought against. Mario and Luigi would have had a tough time against them, but he knew they would win. And if they could win, then Fawful would win as well.

It was tough, though. There had already been a lot of close calls, and they hadn't even gone that far down yet. Though how many floors there were, nobody could say.

Fawful found himself running across another room. 'O'Chunks, you are needing to have the moving of that block!' he cried to the muscular man. It was far too heavy for the Bean to move with his pitiful strength.

'I'm a mite busy 'ere!' the Scotsman grunted, holding off another monster, which seemed to be made out of pure light. The one good thing about having a room with monsters in it was that it added to the light and thus made things easier to see. Not that there wasn't already a surplus of light in the rooms; the stones all around seemed to glow, pristine and flawless as the day the temple was made. The beast was trying to get at O'Chunks' throat, but the man was powerful enough to hold it off.

'Mimi?!' he shouted desperately.

She came skidding over, disappearing in a puff of purple smoke and reappearing as a large creature from a foreign dimension of some sort. She grabbed the block and pushed.

The Bean shot a blast of energy at the creature Mimi had abandoned, which ate the blast and blew it right back at him. He yelped and dodged it, then flew under its legs and chomped down on its back. It writhed in pain, screaming and attempting to shake him off. The Headgear's powerful jaws held fast, and Fawful blasted projectile after projectile into the creature's spine. It groaned and fell over, defeated.

The block was pushed into place, completing the puzzle. The floor crumbled away again, revealing another staircase. 'Yeesh!' Mimi sighed, returning to her normal form. 'They just keep on going, don't they?'

'Yeah...' the burly man grunted, brushing himself off from his defeat of another foe. A sprit floated by him; he reached out and his hand went through it. 'I wonder 'oo these ghosts are?' he mused. 'An' why I can't revive 'em.'

'I think you've got to want to, deep in your heart,' Mimi answered. 'That's kind of what the Purity Heart's power is, after all.'

O'Chunks scrunched up his face, but the spirit stayed a spirit. 'Blegh. S'not workin'.'

'If it was anybody who you had the wanting of reviving,' the Bean said, 'then they would be revived.'

'I guess...'

They got up. 'We must keep going,' Fawful told them. 'The Heart of Purity must be ours in a time of fastness.' They nodded, and walked down the staircase.

There were so many floors, they lost count. It had been a good thing they'd stockpiled useful items such as Mushrooms, or they might have lost some time ago. As they went down, the monsters became stronger, the puzzles more taxing. Even Fawful began having trouble with them, and their wounds were growing more numerous. Their movements were slower, each breath was heavier. Fawful began to fear that they would not make it.

He pressed on, though. Every creature he fought, he destroyed with his determination. He knew he would win out. He would reach the bottom, he would unlock the way to the Purity Heart, and he would destroy Dimentio once and for all. Nothing would get in his way.

They found themselves at the entrance to a massive maze. The three of them stared into it; they could hear monsters lumbering about inside. It would be dangerous.

'Should...should we split up?' Mimi suggested.

'Noing,' Fawful said. 'That has dangerousness. We must have the supporting of each other.'

'Well then 'ow're we gonna get through this thing?'

The Bean planted his hand on the left wall. 'We have walk, and I will not remove my hand from this wall.'

A few minutes passed with no flaw in the plan, but soon a monster came roaring over a corner and they immediately ran their own separate ways. Fawful found himself alone, walking through this claustrophobic maze with no sense of direction. The walls stretched to the ceiling, and they towered above him, endless and humbling.

He paused; he heard a noise. He listened intently, his Headgear alert.

He realized the noise was behind him, and he spun around to see a creature running at him, murder in its eyes.

He blasted it and ran, turning a corner and picking a random direction in which to go, but the thing didn't lose him and still gave chase, gaining on him.

He fell, hitting the ground with his hands. He turned around and blasted it again, but it barely dented the monster looming over him. It roared, its rows of teeth shimmering, and began to close the gap between them.

Fawful didn't get fully to his feet before a voice cut off the noise of the monster. 'Get out of the way!' The voice came from behind him.

The Bean flew under the monster's legs, and another figure jumped up and blew it up to the ceiling with a dark wave of magic. It hit the ground, then slashed at the person, who blocked it and parried, making a few slicing motions before disintegrating the beast entirely.

Then, when it was all over, Fawful was staring at a white-gloved hand, extended out to him. This hand belonged to a familiar, blue-skinned ally, dressed in a vest and top hat, complete with a cape that shimmered like the stars. 'Fawful,' the man said, shocked. 'I was not aware I would be meeting you here.'

'You...' the Bean said, dumbfounded. 'You are being...'

'Blumiere!' a female voice called.

'Count?' another one said.

Two women rounded the corner, one with dark-blue skin and dressed in a now-wrecked businesswoman's attire, and one with white skin wearing a dress. 'And you!' the boy shouted. 'You are being...!'

'Timpani, Nastasia, I apologize,' the dark prince said. 'But I heard another person in distress and had to help them.' He smiled, then re-extended the hand, helping Fawful to his feet. 'It is a familiar friend.'

'Oh, Fawful!' Timpani exclaimed. 'Wow, you're here too?'

'Um...yesing.' He was suddenly conscious of Nastasia staring at him intensely, and he avoided her gaze. 'How are you being here?'

'We are not sure,' Blumiere admitted. 'We suddenly came to here, and found monsters crawling this maze. We've been running and fighting ever since.'

'But...' That didn't make sense. 'You had deadness, you were spirits. Only energy from the Heart of Purity could have the reviving of...' The sight of Blumiere and Timpani standing next to each other, the man's arm holding the woman close, answered the question: the two of them had revived each other, even though they were dead to begin with. Suddenly his feelings for Mimi and Rose felt horribly small; their love transcended death itself.

'Yeah, they just showed up,' the dark woman said. 'On their own. They found me as a spirit, and I was revived once they figured out who I was.' She adjusted her glasses. 'I guess I was drawn to them here.'

'So...wait,' he said. 'You had the fighting for...how long?'

'We're not sure,' Timpani told him, 'but we figure it must be a really long time.' Had...had they been fighting since the beginning of the world?! That was insane!

'How have you not had deadness yet?!' he sputtered. 'These monsters are being superpowerful!'

The two denizens of the Tribe of Darkness gave their own unique look. 'We have our own ways of fighting,' Nastasia said, and her eyes glinted red. He looked away, sweat trailing down his face.

'Well...we must have the exiting of this maze,' said the Bean. 'Then we must have the continuing.'

'What exactly is going on?' the dark man asked.

'I will have the telling of you later,' he replied hastily. 'Let us have exploring.'

'There's something we found a long while ago that we think might be the maze's end, but we couldn't get it to work,' the businesslike woman said. 'At this point we've got the location memorized, so we should go there.' Fawful agreed.

As Blumiere and Timpani walked off into the distance, Nastasia stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, and turned him around. He met her stony eyes. 'Listen, Fawful,' she said.

'Y...yes?' he gulped.

'A lot transpired since you killed me. I am well aware of that, even if I spent it all of that time in the Underwhere and then lost in a maze. I have no idea what is going on, and I have no idea how you factor into this, but I am going to trust you, K?'

'K...kayo,' he said, nodding.

'And you are going to tell me everything as soon as we get out of here.'

'Kayo!'

They caught up to the other two. Fawful followed them, until they finally arrived at one end of the maze which contained a giant, floating stone. 'This stone,' Blumiere said, 'contains energy. I can feel it. However, nothing we have done has awakened it.'

Fawful walked up to it. 'Hmmm...' he muttered, then stuck his hand onto it. It glowed with a brilliant light, and a wave of energy pulsed throughout the entire room. The maze crumbled to dust, and the monsters keeled over and disappeared.

'...it was _that easy?_' Timpani choked.

'I am supposing it had to be me...' the Bean said.

The maze was gone, in its place an empty room. The room's centre crumbled away, revealing another staircase. 'Now what?' Blumiere asked.

Any answer he would have gotten was interrupted by an incredibly loud, girlish shriek as Mimi traversed the length of the room and jumped at Blumiere, wrapping her arms around him. 'COUNT!' she cried with joy. 'IT'S YOU!'

'Mimi!' the man laughed, smiling widely. 'It feels like it has been a very long time!'

'Oh and Nassy too, Grambi thank you!' The two girls hugged tightly, and Fawful saw that Mimi was crying freely, smiling wider than he had ever seen her.

Nastasia had a few tears too. 'It's...it's great to see you Mimi,' she said, her voice breaking.

'Butter me biscuits n' fill me with gravy!' O'Chunks exclaimed. 'It's the Count an' 'is lass!'

'O'Chunks,' Blumiere greeted. 'I see the trials have been rough on you.'

'Eh, s'nothin' I can't handle!' he boasted. Timpani gave the man a hug. 'An' Nassy too!' he laughed, wrapping the smaller woman in an embrace. 'It's been too long fer me likin'!'

'O'Chunks...' the woman replied, her voice still not composed. She hesitated, then returned the hug. 'It's great to see you.'

Fawful suddenly felt his throat tighten. These people were part of a family he had never known. They looked so happy together. He looked up at the ceiling; he wondered how Cackletta was doing right now.

'I suppose the only one not with us is Dimentio,' Nastasia said, her voice suddenly turning to venom.

'Oh, you'll be able to see him soon,' Mimi said cheerfully. 'He'll be so happy to see you guys!'

They all stared at her. 'Uh...are we talking about the same Dimentio?' Timpani asked.

'Oh. Whoopsies!' the green girl laughed. 'I guess there's a lot you don't know!'

'Evidently not...' Blumiere responded.

They all needed a break to recuperate anyway, so the six of them sat down in the now-empty room and ate some Mushrooms while the three new allies were briefed on all the events that had taken place after the world ended. Fawful had to do the explaining for most of it, since he'd been around since its beginning, and he found himself repeating a lot of what he told them until they got their minds wrapped around his Engrish. When he arrived at the reveal of the Light and Dark counterparts to Dimentio and himself, the three of them had a similar shocked reaction.

'It feels like the universe is out to get you,' Timpani noted sympathetically. 'Fighting yourself?'

'I have never heard of this sort of thing happening before,' Blumiere said. 'The Purity and Chaos Hearts must be far more powerful than I could have ever imagined.'

Eventually, when everybody knew the full story, they returned to their feet. 'So, we need to open the way to the Purity Heart?' Nastasia asked. 'That means we have to keep going down.'

'Mhm,' the Bean confirmed. His spirits were lifted; with their number doubled, they stood an even greater chance of succeeding.

'Welp,' O'Chunks said. 'Let's go.'

Light Dimentio

'And you thought _me_ showing up at your doorstep was bad,' Esmine laughed. 'Now we've got this guy.' She pointed at Bowser.

'I'm the Koopa King!' the Koopa retorted. 'Show me some respect!'

'Oh Bowser, must you be so haughty?' Dimentio rubbed his temples; things had gotten so much noisier now that he had shown up. 'And loud, no less. You are assaulting my ears!'

'But I'm _bored!_' he huffed. 'We've just sat around doing nothing!'

'Well with Fawful off in that temple fighting for his life, there's not much we _can_ do,' Cackletta said. 'Should I take over your body again? That would liven things up.'

Bowser got to his feet. 'All right, that's it! I'll cream you!'

'Oh bring it on you bucket of lard!' the witch shot back. 'That Koopa body suits me far better than it even did you!'

They both were forcibly seated by the magician's dimensional magic. 'Sit,' he commanded. 'Wait.'

'They've been gone for so long...' Rose murmured. The white girl was worried. 'I hope they're okay?'

'What if they die down there?' Princess Rosabella asked, making the other girl squeak. 'Will we know?'

'They won't die,' Peach answered. 'They're stronger than that.'

Suddenly, a wave of power passed over them, lifting their hearts instantly, making their bodies shake with positive emotion. The people all around them froze, shocked into paralysis by the sudden overload of the Purity Heart's energy. Dimentio looked towards the temple, and everybody else followed him. 'Was that...?' Rose asked, her voice trailing off.

A massive beam of light shot into the air, a beautiful sound reverberating with consonance hummed and calmed them. As the beam reached the sky, the edge of the dimension itself pulsed, and a crackle was sent through it. All of Light Dimentio's people lurched and fell over, their eyes dull and lifeless. Two responding sounds, equal in intensity, travelled back to them; they were the two trials that Fawful had previously completed. The light built up, pushing the dimension towards its breaking point...

Everything stopped. Everybody held their breaths. 'Is...' Rosabella said quietly. 'Is that it?'

A huge flash of bright light obscured their vision, followed by a loud frequency like that of a tuning fork, and the sound of the dimension rending apart.

They opened their eyes and saw a swirling mass of darkness in the air, pulsating with light at its borders and flashing with black electricity.

'He did it...' Esmine breathed. 'That's it!'

Everybody cheered. 'The Purity Heart...it's in there!' Rose cried. 'We did it!'

Rosabella walked up to him, looking at his expression; his mouth was set in a frown. 'Shouldn't you be happier?' she asked him. 'All your planning has finally paid off. The Purity Heart is within our reach.'

'Oh believe me, Princess,' he said. 'I am incredibly pleased. But...' He stared into the mass swirling in the sky, the telltale hole of the Void torn into the dimension itself. 'That does not make me excited for what must come soon.'

'Oh, right...that.' The pink-haired girl sighed.

Dimentio nodded affirmatively. 'Yes. Fawful must die.'


	32. Chapter 32: Flatline

Chapter 32: Flatline

Dark Fawful

He was lying on his side. Spots had spread across his field of vision, and his head was pounding. He writhed on the ground; the air felt electrified, toxic, boiling and freezing, completely hostile to him. His guards had suddenly clutched their hearts, their eyes widening, their mouths hung open, completely exposed to the emotion that their maker had kept hidden from them.

Grown men, powerful men, dropped to their knees and wept, wailing with their heads in their hands or looking to the sky. 'Why...?' they asked desperately. Why were they created? What was their purpose? Why were they only feeling this now? Why was it kept hidden from them? Why did their god, who they revered so much, keep them from experiencing this joy, and this pain? Did they do something wrong?

All the while, their superior jerked around on the ground, trying to keep himself steady and failing. He was a being made of the essence of the Chaos Heart, torn from one person. Love was hostile to him. Love was his antithesis.

It faded away. The cries of the soldiers lessened, as did the dark Bean's pain. Soon he was left breathing deeply, and the men's expressions turned blank. A smile spread across his face; this could only mean one thing.

The Purity Heart would soon be in the grasp of the heroes. This was good. This was very, very good. If he could get them to defeat Dimentio with it, it would be child's play to swoop in, incapacitate the heroes after their battle, seize the Chaos Heart, and destroy them all. There was no other way to attain power, unfortunately. The magician was indestructible without the Purity Heart to remove his barrier.

He stood up, looking around at the men. They looked around, all emotion wiped from their faces. 'Soing!' he said, walking around them. 'How are you feeling?' He poked one in the nose; he didn't react.

The soldier took a long breath, his eyes fixed on the Bean's. 'I feel...' he said. His voice faded off. No other response came.

The boy flicked the man's nose. 'Do you have anger? Sadness? Embarrassment?' Slowly, the man nodded. 'How much are you feeling?' He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped.

'Your hearts have not yet the wiping,' he said, his spirits high. 'Soon, your hearts will be tiny shells, empty like eggs without their insides! And you are not even caring, not much.' He could see the faintest shadow of emotion in the soldier, but if you'd just glanced at him you wouldn't have been able to tell. He was scared to stop feeling, Fawful could tell, but it was so little it might as well not even exist.

Dark Fawful sat back down at his throne. 'Soon,' he said to himself. 'Dimentio will have deadness, and I will have rule.' He put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs at the knees. 'So make haste, heroes of the Heart of Purity! Come pave the way for Lord Fawful!'

Light Dimentio

The doors opened once more. The Bean that was his ally walked in, beaten, worn, but triumphant. 'I have success!' he declared. 'The final monument of the Heart of Purity has been defeated!'

'Excellent work,' Dimentio said. 'I hope it was not too much of a struggle.'

'It was a _huge_ struggle!' Mimi came in behind him. 'We almost died a lot, actually, but we won in the end.'

The sight of the girl brought an unconscious smile to his face. 'Yes, you have finally arrived at the end of all of your struggles, and have performed a phenomenal feat. I admit, I was somewhat concerned as to whether or not you would be able to live through that particular temple, but I see my worries were in vain. Ahahahaha.'

O'Chunks, finally, lumbered in. 'Nothin's ever gonna take us down!' he beamed. 'We're tougher than any monsters in any ol' temple!'

'Yes!' he exclaimed, and hopped into the air. He couldn't help it, his whole body felt light. There had been so many close calls, but they were nearing the end. As soon as they secured the Purity Heart, they would set out to destroy his dark self and restore the worlds to their rightful order. He floated among them. 'You have fought well, like a heroic band of knights storming a monolithic stronghold!'

'I see your love of similes has not changed,' said a voice.

He froze, staring at the door. 'Wh...who said that?' he demanded.

Three people walked in: Blumiere, Nastasia, and Timpani. He immediately dropped right out of the sky, crying out in shock as the grief and shame he had fought so hard to suppress came up to the surface. 'YOU!' he screamed.

'Greetings, Dimentio,' his former master said. 'It has been a long wait.'

'What are you doing here?!' He had gotten back up to his feet and was backing up as they advanced. He wanted them to get away, to leave his sight and take the torrent of memories he had with them. O'Chunks and Mimi were bad enough, but the Count, the figure who had united them, fought with them, and betrayed them...even Mimi could not bring him so much horror. Even though he was the benevolent side of Dimentio, there was something else there too: rage and betrayal.

'We were in the temple,' was the man's answer. 'We fought in its depths until we were found by Mimi, O'Chunks, and Fawful.

He was breathing heavily, trying to bring together his scattered emotions. He looked at the three who had gone into the temple; O'Chunks' face was hard, Mimi's was sympathetic, and Fawful's was merely interested. He looked back to the three new arrivals; Nastasia had not let down her cold glare, Timpani looked both frightened and confrontational, and Blumiere, of all people, seemed to find the situation almost humorous.

He didn't know what to say. They would have been briefed on the situation, so the likelihood of them trying to kill him was slim. Fawful, Rose, and O'Chunks had already been hunted by his malevolent half enough that meeting him was not as difficult. These three, though...it was clear that despite everything, all they saw was the one who had caused them so much pain, and not just physical wounds. What did one say to that?

'Dimentio...?' Rosabella said, concerned. 'Who are these people?'

He looked briefly at her and was suddenly very conscious of the terror he was displaying. 'They are...old friends,' he answered.

Nastasia made a _hmph!_ sound. 'I would say we're more than that, Dimentio.'

He sat down on the step in front of his throne. 'They are...they are the people that once attempted to destroy all worlds. He...' He pointed at Blumiere. 'He was the ringleader. Mimi, O'Chunks, Nastasia, and I were the gullible fools.'

The blue-skinned woman lowered her glasses. 'How dare you—!'

'Nastasia,' Blumiere interrupted. 'Circumstances have changed.' She reluctantly covered her eyes back up. 'Perhaps it would be for the best if we could have some...time to catch up?'

Those who were not part of the old group of minions looked at the magician, who nodded after a moment's hesitation. 'Y...yes,' he agreed. 'That would be for the best.'

They left the room, leaving them alone together.

Dimentio settled down into his throne, not looking at anybody in particular. 'Aha...ahahahaha...' he laughed. 'So at last we are united again.'

'At last,' Blumiere said.

'Why bother with this charade?' he spat. 'I am well aware of what you all think of me. Why not vent your grievances now? Or perhaps you would like to take a few swings? Will I find myself on the ends of fists, sceptres, and Rubees as well?' He was shaking; suddenly he was thrown back into Castle Bleck, standing on his pillar, looking up at his master and down at everyone else, plotting the destruction of all worlds. And here he was, having actually done it, trying to destroy all his work. He realized, looking at everybody now, that they were positioned in the room exactly as they would be in Castle Bleck's meeting hall, and he experienced a mix of nostalgia and gut-wrenching pain. Of all the people to show up, it had to be them. He would have preferred for his own blood family to come instead; at least then he could have had a few laughs at his brothers' expense.

Suddenly, Timpani left her husband's side and walked up to him. He stood up and walked down the steps. 'Oh, excellent, will you have the first blow? I recall killing you _particularly_ gruesomely. I suppose it is only fair.' Then, she did something that he didn't expect.

She hugged him.

'What...?' No, this didn't make sense.

'What're you _doing?_' Nastasia seemed as shocked as he was.

Timpani let go and looked at them. 'Don't you remember what we were told? This isn't the same Dimentio we've been fighting. I mean...he's been fighting _against_ the world he made this whole time, and he was actually going to let me beat him up. The Dimentio we fought would never do that.'

'Yes, he just killed you,' the businesswoman said sharply. 'Who's to say he won't either?'

'I just trust him,' the Count's wife replied.

'Me too,' Mimi said. 'He's been doing everything he can to beat his dark self and set everything right. If he wanted us dead he would have killed us a long time ago.'

'I trust 'im too,' O'Chunks added.

Blumiere and Nastasia looked at each other. 'Well, Count?' the woman asked him. 'Do you think he can be trusted?'

The man looked back at Dimentio, and they looked at each other. Blumiere still held contempt in him, that much was clear. Perhaps they all did, to an extent. Everyone in the world who wasn't one of his own people had every reason to hate him. 'I trust him,' Blumiere said. 'I don't know how it happened, but this Dimentio has no malevolent intent.'

Nastasia gave a curt nod. 'Then I trust you too.'

The magician was stunned. 'Just...just like that?' There were nods all around.

'It is good to have us all back in one room again as allies,' the former prince said, giving a smile. 'And this time we shall save the worlds, not destroy them.'

'Hail Bleck!' Mimi suddenly shouted, then giggled.

'Hahaha! Hail Bleck!' O'Chunks boomed, giving an exaggerated soldier's salute.

'Hail Bleck,' Nastasia said, smiling despite herself.

'Hee hee. Hail Bleck.' Timpani had returned to her husband's side; she nudged him playfully.

Blumiere laughed. 'My loyal minions, you are too kind.'

'Hail...Bleck...' They all looked at Dimentio, who had a pained grin on his face. 'Aha...ha ha ha ha...'

'You all right, Dimmy?' Mimi asked him.

'...leave me,' he ordered. 'I...I must be alone.'

They left the room. Blumiere was the last to leave. 'Despite everything, Dimentio,' he said. 'I am very glad to have you back on our side. You were as much a part of the family as the rest.' He shut the doors behind him.

The king stood, his fists clenched, eyes shut. So many memories were resurfacing of his time with them, so many good and bad times in Castle Bleck. The memories of his betrayal and his systematic murdering of them all came next, melding together, tormenting him.

He grabbed his throne and ripped it out of the ground, screaming. He tossed it across the room and it smashed into a wall, splitting into pieces.

Light Fawful

Fawful was on the roof of the castle, lying on his back with his hands behind his head. He had taken his Headgear off and placed it beside him, and it moved its head back and forth as if inspecting the area for intruders. The machine was impeccably-made, and he felt a little bit of jealousy towards his dark half. He knew he shouldn't, because Dark Fawful was still him, but it stung all the same.

He stared up at the Void in the sky. Unlike its previous iteration, it was not a black hole ripping apart spacetime, but was woven into the fabric of the dimension and seemed to want to repair itself. The tendrils of light that snaked across its edge held it in place, keeping the way open for one to slip in and grab the treasure it held.

'Admiring your handiwork, Fawful?' Cackletta sat down beside him.

'It is being impressive handiwork,' the Beanish boy said, grinning.

'You're right. You've been through a lot, but soon it'll be time to wipe the floor with that disgusting-looking king.'

'Yesing. Finally.'

They both went silent for a time, listening to the Void's droning in the sky.

'So many dimensions,' Cackletta sighed. 'Dimentio had come along earlier, back when I first found you. I wonder if I should have taken that as a sign. Fate has a way of bringing everybody together that needs to be.'

'Mayhaps.' He patted his Headgear and it made a metallic purring sound which made Fawful start; he had never added in such things before. 'Let us have hope that Fate is on the side of ours.'

The sun was beginning to sink lower beyond the horizon. 'Our Dimentio has been slowly gathering his troops together,' she said. 'He obviously thinks an intense battle is going to take place once you get that Heart.'

'The final battle against the Dimentio of darkness,' the Bean agreed. 'Hopefully we will have battle soon.' He looked down sadly. 'I am missing my home.'

'Yeah, I miss mine too,' the Bean witch admitted.

The sound of a very nervous girl ended their conversation. Rosabella was walking along the rooftop, taking care not to look down. 'H...hey,' she greeted them.

'How in the world did you get up here?' the green woman asked her. 'You can't fly.'

'I, uh, climbed out a window.' The girl laughed nervously, taking care to not fall down lest she somehow tumble over the side.

'Are you wanting to look at the Void as well?' Fawful had to admire her dedication; there's no way he'd have been up here if he hadn't had his Headgear.

'A...actually, I've been looking for you, Fawful. Dimentio wants to see you.'

'Oh? Whying?'

'Well, I know you've just done a massive job, but he wants to get to the...the next step as soon as possible. So if you could just meet us in the throne room as usual, he'd like to have a few words with you.'

'Okayo,' he answered. 'Are you requiring assistance to get down?'

The woman looked relieved. 'Oh yes, thank you.'

'Oh good, you've arrived,' the king said. He was pacing around the room, kicking aside pebbles that weren't there the last time Fawful had been inside the room.

'Why is the throne—'

Dimentio cut Cackletta off. 'It is unimportant why the throne is where it is.' He waved his hand. 'Find a spot where you are comfortable.'

Soon, everybody of note was in the room. 'All right mister psychopath,' Esmine needled. 'Why exactly are we here?'

The magician made to speak, but cut himself off. Silence descended over the room, and Fawful suddenly felt nervous. What did Dimentio have to tell him?

'What's going on? Rose asked. She looked at the pink-haired woman standing beside the king; she looked incredibly hurt, and was glancing at Fawful from time to time.

'Well, uh...' Princess Rosabella said, her voice wavering.

'After all this time, the way to the Purity Heart is finally open to us.' Dimentio had interjected, allowing himself to be the bearer of whatever bad news he had to offer. 'You have fought bravely. We have never been closer to victory than we are today.'

'I sense that we aren't going to like what you have to say,' Nastasia said.

'You, Fawful,' he continued, 'have fought the hardest out of us all. When your allies fell, you remained. You saw the creation of this world, you fought from the very beginning to the very end. And it truly will be an end.'

'...what's _that_ supposed to mean?' Cackletta snarled. She had unconsciously taken a step in front of Fawful.

'The way to the Purity Heart lies above us: it rests in the endless expanse of the Void beyond the edges of this dimension. None of us would survive there; the destructive forces would tear us limb from limb, and the trauma would scatter us throughout the Void forever. Everything would be lost. And in any case, none of us save _perhaps_ myself would be able to find the Purity Heart, laced with the Chaos Heart's magic as we are. No one...' He looked directly at the Bean. '...except for _you,_ Fawful.'

'Why him?' Mimi asked. 'Why can't it be anybody else?'

'Fawful is linked to the Purity Heart in a way that we are not. In the beginning of this world, he used it to shield himself. Being composed of the good traits of the one whole Fawful, and containing in him a string attached to the Purity Heart, he is the only one of us who will be able to obtain it.'

'Somehow, I am not having surprise,' the Bean sighed.

'S'that it?' O'Chunks said, confused. 'Wha's the bad news?'

Dimentio again fell silent. He continued to stare at Fawful, and again the boy felt nervous.

'The bad news...' he whispered. 'As I said, even if Fawful made it into the Void, it would tear him apart. The only way to stand a chance there is to enter it in a more fluid form that will be able to sustain itself, free of bodily limitations.'

'And how,' the Bean witch asked, 'is he going to attain that form?'

A moment of silence. 'Fawful will have to become a spirit,' he answered.

Suddenly, Dimentio's sombre demeanour made sense. 'Wait...' Esmine said, her eyes widening. 'Are you trying to tell us that—'

'Yes, I am.' The magician's expression remained stoic. 'Fawful must die.'

The uproar was enormous. Everybody in the room save for Dimentio, Rosabella, and Fawful turned angry, and betrayed expressions went across the entire Bleck crew. O'Chunks raised his fists, Blumiere clenched his sceptre, Nastasia had her fingers and thumb on the rim of her glasses, Mimi had Rubees in her hands. Esmine bared her teeth and her expression turned demonic, and Cackletta stepped fully in front of him, crackles of electricity zapping along her fingers.

'So much for trust,' Nastasia spat.

Fawful felt numb. _Fawful will complete the trials and then be led here. We will bring him into the castle, treat him like the hero he is. And then, we will kill him._ 'Oh...' he said quietly.

Dimentio was trying his best to get everybody to calm down, but they weren't listening to him, or Rosabella for that matter. It had all been a ploy to lead Fawful to his death. That was it.

But that wasn't it.

'Waiting!' he shouted. Nobody reacted. '_Waiting!_'

Cackletta looked behind at him. 'Fawful?'

'I am needing attention!'

'Ah.' The Bean witch raised her hands and everybody was silenced as a torrent of lightning bolts struck down upon everyone. '_SILENCE YOU FOOLS!_' she barked. '_FAWFUL WANTS TO SPEAK!_'

All eyes turned on him. He walked past Cackletta and everyone else until he was standing before Dimentio. 'You are saying,' he made sure, 'that I must have death to obtain the Heart of Purity and have the killing of the Dimentio of darkness?'

'Yes.'

'How am I to be trusting you? This could be a trap.'

'It could be,' Light Dimentio admitted. 'I suppose you'll simply have to make that judgement call on your own.'

He stared at the magician. His face was the same as it had ever been, but even though he was undeniably Dimentio, he displayed a subtle, underlying regret that the old jester had never possessed. He only wanted the best for the worlds, to atone for the pain he had caused.

The Bean nodded. 'Then I will have death.'

'Fawful...' Cackletta said. 'I don't...'

'It is being okay, Cackletta,' he consoled her, and gave her a smile with all his teeth. 'I will not have deadness for long.'

Dimentio and Rosabella looked at each other briefly. 'After your passing,' the man said, 'I will guide your soul up into the Void. After that, the rest is up to you.' Fawful nodded to convey his understanding.

'You have no idea how brave you are for this, Fawful,' Rosabella told him empathetically.

The Bean closed his eyes. Surprisingly, he wasn't afraid. He had come this far, and he would do whatever it took to see this quest to its end. 'Well? Let us go.'

The benevolent magician waved his hand, and a glowing, orange box surrounded Fawful. He pressed his middle finger and thumb together. 'Fawful!' Mimi said. 'We'll be waiting for you to come back!'

'I suppose in the end I got to kill you after all. Ahahaha.' Dimentio's laugh was humourless. 'Ciao, Fawful.' He snapped his fingers.

The box exploded. A flash of fiery light shone through his eyelids and a burning heat engulfed his body. He couldn't help but scream as pain blazed through him, building to an agonizing peak as his body completely disintegrated. A moment later, he was plunged into absolute nothingness.

Fawful was dead.


	33. Chapter 33: Void Heart

Chapter 33: Void Heart

Light Fawful

An unwelcome sensation flooded his soul: the dark, repulsive aura of the Void. It felt like sludge was flowing through his veins and seeping into his skin, and everything he was wanted to reject it and fade away into the nothingness that surrounded him.

But it couldn't. There was something here, something he needed. It called to him, like a breeze of warm air in the middle of a snowstorm. He had to get it.

He opened his eyes, and for a brief moment all he saw was the black, swirling Void around him.

Then, without warning, an endless expanse of black stone appeared, stretching off in all directions and creating a horizon with the Void as its sunset. It was perfectly flat, and shined like dark glass.

He touched his bare feet to the surface of the stone; it was warm, but not too hot. He wiggled his green toes and stared into the floor, seeing a near-flawless reflection of himself looking back at him.

He lacked clothes. His legs were uncovered from the knee down, but a cloak of curling shadow billowed from his body, covering him from the knees up to his neck. Its tendrils snaked across his arm, stopping at his elbow. His glasses were absent, exposing his blue eyes, yet he could see perfectly. Most alarmingly, his left arm was completely missing; the robotic replacement was gone. For some reason, though, he wasn't left with a feeling of loss, and the lack of a left arm felt natural to him.

He ran his hand through the air; it felt thick, as if he were walking through a heavy fog, though his sight was unimpaired. He took a deep breath, but the action was useless; no air filled his lungs, if he possessed any. He didn't need it.

He turned instinctively in one direction and began walking. He didn't know why he'd done so; it was simply what felt right. He would walk a thousand miles in the direction his heart told him to.

_'Are you going somewhere in particular?' _a voice from nowhere asked him.

He stopped, suddenly alert, though not afraid. 'I am going where I am needing to,' he said aloud. His voice rippled in the air, echoing back at him from every direction.

_'Is that so? And where do you need to go?'_

'Where I am needing to,' he answered again. It really was the only response he could give.

_'Ah ha ha ha ha. A journey without a destination is not a journey. How can you be certain that you will arrive anywhere at all?'_

Suddenly, he felt his body jerk upwards and a sound grinded against his ears; the flat, stone ground became rough and jagged, with large peaks and crevices. He floated back down, landing on one of the peaks, and stared into the distance. The treacherous landscape had no end. He began walking again, in the same direction as before, taking care not to step on the sharp rock jutting out of the ground. His journey was more difficult, but it was still a journey towards that single presence. It felt beautiful, like a voice humming to him. He slid down a rock, his cloak of shadows whipping in the black wind about him.

The stone sticking out beside him suddenly cracked along its surface. He looked at it briefly, but continued on his way. As he walked, more rocks cracked and split, only skin-deep. The sound was only slightly deterring, and the tiny chunks of rock bounced off his skin like harmless flecks of dust.

_'Such a troubled past...'_ the voice crooned. It was a male's voice, deep and sly. He walked over a peak and went down the other side, when the rock in front of him suddenly cracked and split, revealing two humanoid figured etched into the rock. _'To think you have never shared blood with any being.'_

The rock cracked in half, then shattered to pieces. Standing before him in its place were two Beans, fairly young-looking for their adult age. Unlike him, who was garbed in shadow, these people were dressed in real clothes, clothes with no real pattern or style. Simple and modest, unlike Fawful. They stared at him, melancholy expressions on their faces.

For the first time since waking up, the Beanish boy felt an emotion: grief. Why? He did not know. 'Helloing...' he said to the two adult Beans. They smiled sadly and waved at him, and he waved back. 'Who are you being?'

They looked at each other and their smiles disappeared. When they looked back at him, tears were in their eyes. Looking at them, Fawful got the feeling that he was looking through a window into an entire alternate life that he had been unable to take part in. A life where his genius was truly recognized for what it was, a life where he did not find himself on the receiving end of electric shocks, or swords, or boot heels or hammers. A quiet life.

The woman hugged him, and a word surfaced to his mind: _mother_. For a moment, this woman who was embracing him was all there was in his life. Cackletta faded to a distant dream; this warm, loving hug was his reality.

She let go, and then the man stepped forward and hugged him as well; it wasn't as tender or gentle as the woman's, but firmer, tighter, yet also empowering and protective. Another word came to him: _father_. A word he had never used. A person he had never known. He felt a hole in his heart that he never knew existed suddenly fill, and he swore to burn what he felt into him so that he would never forget it.

He let go, despite Fawful's protests. Tears were freely streaking down their faces, the tears of those who had lost more than their own lives when their games ended. Fawful felt tears too; he wanted to stay here with them forever, to talk, to catch up, to learn and experience and love and be loved in a way he never had.

They both shook their heads, reading his mind. Then they both gave him smiles, new ones this time, smiles that held within them love, pride, and hope. They closed their fingers around each other's, then turned and walked away, fading out of existence before his eyes.

He stared at the empty spot, unmoving. _'Two innocent lives, cut dramatically short by the interference of a witch and an interdimensional being. Two aftergames spent mourning the loss of the child they could never raise. And then, when the child finally died, they would be separated once more by the dividing line of good and evil.'_

'I...' His hand was stretched out, as if trying to grasp the imprints they'd left in his mind. 'F...family...'

_'But Fawful,'_ the voice said, apparently surprised. _'Do you not have a family of your own? A family related by bonds, not blood?' _The Bean witch that had raised him flowed back into his mind. Other people did as well: a green girl, a ghostly white one, a princess and her two protectors.

He wiped the tears from his face and remembered the Beans' smiles: full of pride. Full of hope. He pressed on, walking where his heart told him to.

And so he climbed, and so he fell. The images of his allies were in his mind now alongside the two Beans, and they gave him strength.

_'Allies...'_ The voice lingered on the word as if it were a mystery it had to solve. _'And yet they were not always allies, were they?'_

The stone all around him split and shifted; the ground beneath his feet turned flat, becoming a path set by glowing, white stepping stones. On both sides, massive, black walls ascended into the limitless sky, towering over him. The only way to go was forward.

Patches of white appeared on the walls; he stopped in front of one and looked into it. It reflected him, but not as he was. A young, energetic Fawful dressed in tattered, red robes grinned back at him. The Bean witch Cackletta, looking years younger than he remembered, was also in the mirror. She grinned with a wicked pride and put a hand on Fawful's shoulder.

He felt it too. He instinctively looked to the shoulder where she had touched, but no one was there. _'The pride of a villain...and a mother,'_ said the voice.

The next mirror showed him older and leaning on a stick, bruised and beaten. A nearly-dead Cackletta hung off his shoulder. The both of them were truly pathetic, and the Bean felt the wounds start to creep all over his body. The Bean witch in the mirror painfully lifted her mouth to his ear.

_Fawful..._ she whispered, quivering. The Bean jumped and looked again to his side, but he was still alone.

Mirror after mirror he watched his life play out. One showed him in even worse condition, with the Mario Brothers and Prince Peasley of his own homeland standing behind him, their weapons drawn and deadly serious looks on their faces. Peasley had thrust his sword through his back, and Fawful felt real pain. Mario had hit him on the side with his hammer, and he had fallen over onto his side, struck by an invisible foe. Another showed him in his bean shop under his enemies' castle, two babies dressed much like the Bros. staring at him with curious expressions on their faces. Then there was him and Midbus, then him dressed in dark with a star on his chest, then him beaten and burnt beyond all measure, an enraged Bowser behind him, and him as a dying bug.

He found himself on the ground, his hands digging into the glowing stones. Rage boiled up in him and he grit his teeth. _'You value your friends,'_ his disembodied companion told him, _'but are they truly your friends at all?'_

'Th-they...' he grunted, shaking. He could feel the fury quaking through his body; he was shaking with anger and humiliation that he had not felt in a long time. His shadowy cloak billowed behind him, mimicking his emotions and hissing with shared ire.

_Shhhh..._ A soothing whisper from afar calmed his nerves and he stood back up. The destination was closer now. He could feel it.

He trudged on in silence. The deep voice did not disturb him, and eventually the mirrors on the walls ceased to appear. He walked through the trench, moving towards the pinpoint in the distance.

The mirrors had given him something back, though. Despite the fact that he knew his dark half was separated from him, he felt a shadow of evil back inside of him. It slithered around in him, poking at the benevolence he had harboured since his creation. It told him things, reminded him of his pain and suffering, and his fury. His movements were tenser, and more powerful, his footsteps harsher than the light tapping they had been before. He thought back to the Mario Brothers; all he could remember was the beatings they gave him, how they killed him and his mistress.

His mistress...

_'The old devotion resurfaces once more.' _It was true; suddenly he felt younger and weaker; Cackletta loomed over his mind like a fortress, enclosing him. _'You were once a mere lackey, but you grew into so much more.'_

The walls suddenly broke down into dust and blew away in the wind, leaving him with no cover, stuck following the stones on the ground. Suddenly he found himself sloshing through water that wasn't there before. It was warm, like a bath, and lapped about his feet. The stones slowly disappeared. As he walked, the water grew deeper, until he was neck-deep. Still, the ground was declining. It would be over his head soon.

He stopped, unsure of what to do. 'Now whating?' he asked.

_'You walk,'_ answered the voice.

'But...the water...'

_'It is of little consequence.'_

Fawful hesitated, and then continued. His head was submerged in the ocean, but he could still breathe. His vision was unimpaired, save for the shimmering effect of the sea. He walked on, more slowly.

The water moved beside him; he looked to his left and saw a smaller Fawful matching his footsteps. He stopped; so did it. It looked at him expectantly. The Bean reached out and touched it on the head. It was solid, just like he was. He tugged on its shabby cloak, which was made of very real, soaked fabric.

He continued walking, and soon another Fawful had come up to his right, dressed in a bizarre white costume, a stock extending from its head topped with a yellow bulb. This Bean was taller, but not quite as tall as he was. They all looked young, still, as he did.

Soon, a small group of Fawfuls followed him along his journey, each of them very different. _'Who are you, Fawful?'_ the voice asked him.

He stopped and looked at the group of clones: young Fawfuls, older Fawfuls, Fawfuls dressed in rags, Fawfuls dressed in regal clothing, or the clothing of Dark Fawful. One was almost completely bare, and had black veins extending across its skin, originating from a half-heart-shaped symbol on its chest. Another had a bloody hole through its heart. One wore a crown. Which of these was him? Were they all him? How many represented who he was? How many were outdated, Fawfuls from the past?

_'A villain,'_ droned the voice. Some of the Beans bowed their heads. _'A hero. A romantic. A murderer. A saviour.'_ Fawfuls bowed their heads as they were called. _'Which are real, and which are fake? Or, are any of them real at all?'_

Cackletta appeared, taking the place of several Fawfuls. Then Mario and Luigi did the same, and then Mimi, and Dimentio, and everyone he ever knew. _'In all your life, has any one decision been your own? The decision to rule?' _The Bean witch bowed her head. _'To save lives?'_ The Mario Brothers looked to the ground. _'To fall in love?'_ Mimi and Rose. _'To kill?' _Dimentio, this time.

Fawful suddenly felt strings attached to him; they stuck out from his body, attached to the fingers of all present. They moved their arms, and he was tugged along. _'For how long have you been a puppet of others, Fawful?'_

The marionette struggled against his puppet masters, but the strings were too strong. 'I...' he breathed, panicked. 'I am...!' He had to break free; he was going to be trapped here forever if he didn't.

He tugged hard, and a string popped out of his body, followed by another and another. Black smoke leaked from the wounds. The figures all stood, watching him, emotionless. He turned away and walked towards the presence again. He didn't turn around; he didn't want to see them staring at him with their expressionless eyes.

The ground started up an incline, and soon he was out of the water. He looked behind him at the shimmering ocean, feeling a weight come over him. He sat down and grabbed a flat stone from the ground, then skipped it along the water's surface. He threw another, watching it hop off into the distance.

A white, skeletal hand burst from the water and grabbed the stone, dragging it into the depths. He stood up from shock, then looked into the water, which had begun to glow an eerie pink and gave off a haze that smelled like death. For some reason, he thought of hopping in and never coming back out. He looked behind him, expecting to see someone watching him, waiting to grab him and pull him to safety if needed. He knew he was the only one here, though.

Strange, how he once thought he could drown his sorrows by drowning his soul. _'And yet such events never transpired,'_ the voice reminded him. _'Because of a man long dead.'_

He turned away from the sickly waters and kept going. The presence was much stronger now, and he could hear what sounded like a girl's cheerful laughter whenever he strained his ears. Sometimes the Void seemed to glow faintly with light, but it must have been a trick of the eyes.

He stopped; in the distance was a figure, a black silhouette, watching him. He thought briefly of Rosabella, but no, it couldn't be her. 'Helloing?' Fawful called.

_'Greetings.'_ The figure gave a slight wave.

'You? You are the voice?' The figure nodded. 'Who are you being? Why are you talking to the one who is me?'

_'You are all that is in this realm,'_ the figure told him. _'Your memories, your desires, fill this place. The essences of the Purity and Chaos Hearts which pour from you...they are its creators.'_

A heart symbol appeared briefly on his chest, one half black, one half glowing white, before disappearing. 'Why?!' he shouted. 'Why did this happen?!' He saw himself in a field, shaking hands with a masked jester dressed in purple and yellow. That was the answer.

The figure made a beckoning motion. _'Come.' _Then it turned and began to walk away.

Fawful sighed; when was he going to do something of his own choosing? He followed the thing regardless. 'Where are you taking me?' he asked.

_'To the end of your journey.'_

Pillars sprung up out of the ground, held together by a roof that arced over his head. Torches with black flames appeared on the pillars, and statues of Fawful himself, holding a heart-shaped symbol in his hands, were dotted throughout his path. 'It is being me...' he whispered.

_'But which Heart are you holding, I wonder?'_ All around him, the hearts suddenly flashed bright white or deep black. The statues with the white heart changed their expressions to softer ones, whereas the statues with the black ones had more malevolent faces.

The figure suddenly turned left, down a pathway that diverted from the straight line they had been taking. Fawful ran up to the fork in the path, staring down at the figure to the left. It stared at him expectantly. He looked forward with yearning; the presence was loud now. He was so close. 'But...the Heart...' he said desperately.

_'The Heart can wait,'_ his new guide told him firmly, then beckoned for him to follow. It turned around and walked away, and Fawful followed after a moment's hesitation.

They emerged in a room filled with doors that led to nowhere, spread throughout the room. The figure was nowhere to be found. He walked up to one and touched its knob; an image of himself, clad in gems and sitting on a throne, flashed through his mind. He let go in surprise. 'What...?' He touched another one and saw himself sitting in a chair in a house somewhere, quiet and at peace. Another door showed him covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of all of his friends and enemies alike, and another showed his own cold corpse.

_'What do you want for the future, Fawful?'_

He spun around; the figure was there in front of him. It was a humanoid being, tall and with thin, long limbs that set it apart from any human he had ever seen. Two glowing, red eyes were frozen onto his, and it seemed to lack a mouth and ears. It didn't move, but stayed so still that Fawful thought for an instant it might be a statue. 'I...I am not sure what you are meaning,' he replied.

_'After your tireless conflict comes to a close, what will you do?'_ When the being spoke, a mouth appeared where it would be normally, though it dripped with the shadowy substance the being was made out of.

'I will...' he started, then stopped. He didn't know.

The figure smiled widely, and it was easily the most twisted, inhuman, and terrifying smile Fawful had ever seen in his life. Neither Dimentio nor himself could ever hope to match it. He almost fell back in primal fear, but limited his reaction to a few steps behind him. _'All of your fighting, and yet you do not even see a life beyond this?'_ It motioned throughout the room; Fawful turned to follow. _'Look at the doors. Look at the possibilities.'_

He touched another knob; he saw him and Cackletta hidden away together, hatching some sort of evil scheme with him as the master. 'Are...are these the future...?'

_'They are merely possibilities. Which one occurs is up to you.'_

'Possibilities...' He touched another knob; this time he saw himself, whole again and with the Chaos Heart protecting him against his former allies, Dimentio dying on the floor.

_'That is a particularly interesting outcome,'_ the figure noted, amused.

'That will not have occurrence!' he snapped, his shadowy cloak flaring up.

_'Oh Fawful,'_ the thing sighed as if to a naive child. _'If it had no chance of ever occurring, it would not be here.'_

That put a bad feeling in his chest. 'Can...can I have the opening of them?'

_'Go ahead.'_

He picked a door that gave him a relatively harmless image and opened it; no portal appeared, no gateway to another time. It was simply an ordinary doorframe in the middle of a room. He tried another and met with the same result. 'They are leading to nowhere!' he exclaimed.

_'The future is not caused by magic,'_ the figure explained. _'It is caused by your choices. Each decision you make slowly forms a door. Only then will it open, and by then you will have long left this place.' _The being blinked, regarding him carefully. _'I will ask you again: what do you want for the future?'_

He stared at all the doors. Each one contained a possibility, a desire within his heart. Only one could ever truly open, but which one did he want? 'I am not knowing,' he confessed with a sigh. 'But...that is not why Fawful is here.'

_'True...'_ The figure was staring at one door in particular. The Bean walked over to it and prepared to touch the knob. _'Do you truly wish to know what lies within that path?'_

Fawful hesitated, then touched it. An image of complete nothingness passed through his mind, a nothingness in which he was completely absent. Nobody he knew was there. Nobody was there at all. All life was gone. He jerked his hand away. 'Fawful...can have the creating of that?!' he cried.

_'Yes...'_ the figure told him with a breath that sounded almost hopeful.

The Bean stared at the figure again, the thing that just stood there, staring at the door. Or was it at him? He couldn't tell. 'Who _are_ you being?' he asked again.

It smiled its terrifying smile again. _'I am the harbinger of destruction that lived within you, once. Now, I reside inside of Dimentio alone.'_

Fawful's eyes widened. 'You are the Chaos Heart?' Suddenly he felt trapped in this room; was he going to be destroyed here?

The figured nodded, still smiling. _'Yes.' _It spread its long, sticklike arms. _'The Void is my solace. Endless destruction, forever tearing apart the fabric of existence. And, though I am in you no longer...' _It pointed at his chest. _'Your heart, your soul, was my home.'_

'Why are you guiding Fawful?' the Bean demanded.

The Chaos Heart tilted its head to the side. _'Why indeed?'_ Then, without answering, it turned around and walked out of the room. _'Come.'_

'Wait!' he shouted, but it kept walking away. He ran after it, shouting. 'Chaos Heart! Have the answering of me! Why?!'

It stopped at the intersection and started walking towards the presence that was calling to Fawful. The two walked for a time, with Fawful attempting to get answers and the Chaos Heart surrendering none. The presence became more powerful the farther they walked, and the Heart's movements became slower. Eventually, when the sensation was at its peak, stairs began appearing before them.

The Chaos Heart stopped. _'My time with you is at an end,'_ it said. _'I can go no farther.'_

The Bean looked up at the thing, and it looked down at him. 'I will have the asking of you one more time: why? Why the helping?'

It stared at him for a moment before responding. _'I am more than an artefact,'_ it told him, _'unlike my sister.' _It pointed up the staircase. _'I think. I feel. I desire. I dream. And I wonder.'_ Fawful stayed silent. _'You have been touched by her, and by me. You are a being of infinite possibility. An empty shell. A mould to be shaped. Your future is not clear.'_ It reached out with a pointed finger and poked his chest. _'When the time comes, you will make a choice. I am curious as to what that choice will be.' _It pointed towards the presence at the top of the stairs. _'Now go. Seize your prize.'_

'Would it not have badness for you to allow me to acquire the Heart of Purity?' he asked, confused.

It smiled again; shadowy tar dripped from its lips. _'I am more than an artefact,'_ it repeated. _'I am alive.' _He waited for the Chaos Heart to expand further, but it was clear that was all he was going to get. Fawful began to walk up the stairs. _'I dream...'_ the Heart droned. _'Dreams that yearn to become reality...' _That put a greater chill up the Bean's spine than anything he'd seen in this dimension.

He reached the top of the staircase, emerging on an open platform with an elaborate pedestal at its centre. On top of the pedestal, floating above the black stone, was a huge, glowing object shaped like a heart and glowing brightly with a golden brilliance.

The Purity Heart.

His hands were shaking. After all this time, it was finally before him. He walked toward it; as he approached it, his cloak began to dissipate, but he didn't care. He touched it, and warmth and love spread through his body, breathing life into it and dispelling the darkness of the Void. His body began to glow and he felt himself rising up. His heart lifted and his mind grew light, until he faded into the bliss and lost consciousness.

He opened his eyes. His body was still buzzing from the experience, but his senses were sharp and alert. It was like waking up from a deep sleep.

He laid on the ground for a time, not believing what had just happened. An object of pure light illuminated shone over him, but his eyes didn't burn from it. Being in its presence made him feel happy. It was the simplest way of describing it, yet it seemed to do the most justice. He was simply happy. He smiled.

The doors burst open and people rushed in, almost falling over themselves. 'What happened?!' shouted a girl Fawful identified as Mimi after a few moments.

They fell silent. He sat up and looked at them; they stared at him, dumbfounded and amazed. Even Light Dimentio, the one who had orchestrated the entire plot, seemed shocked. He extended his left arm and waved; the robotic replacement had reformed along with his body and (thankfully) all of his clothes. 'Helloing,' he said. 'Fawful has returned.'

They all looked up at the floating object above him. 'Is that...?' Rose breathed.

'The Purity Heart...' Light Dimentio finished, his voice quiet.

Another moment of silence followed, and then someone shoved their way through the crowd. 'Out of my way!' she shouted angrily. 'Out of my way or I'll send you all to your graves!' They moved aside. Cackletta burst out of the small crowd of people and ran towards him.

'Cackletta!' Fawful cried, standing up and smiling. 'Look at what Fawful—'

He was cut off when the Bean witch wrapped her arms around him tightly; he could feel her shaking. 'Damn it Fawful, _damn it_...' she whispered.

'Cack...letta...?'

'You died,' she said, her voice small. 'No matter what happened I never had to watch you die and you _died damn you_...'

He was stunned. 'I...' He wrapped his arms around her too. 'I have aliveness again...' She just shook her head. 'Are...are you proud of Fawful?'

She shifted and he knew she was looking up at the Purity Heart that he had sacrificed so much to obtain. '...yes,' she said. 'I'm proud of you, Fawful.'

The others watched as Fawful stayed in the embrace of the only true parent he had ever had, bathed in the light of the Purity Heart.

Now only Dimentio was next.


	34. Chapter 34: The Final Act

Chapter 34: The Final Act

Mimi

Mimi and Rose stood in front of a mirror. Reflected back at them were two girls, identical in every single way save for colour. Even their eyes glinted with the same scarlet hue. Mimi's hair, normally bound in pigtails, was let out in order to further the effect.

'This is so weird...' she sighed.

'Mhm...' Rose agreed.

'I guess I could have always shapeshifted and become something different around you.'

'I don't think that would be right...' the pale girl murmured. 'And I don't think it would change how I feel around you.'

'No, it probably wouldn't.' Whenever Mimi was around Rose, she felt constantly on edge, as if the entirety of existence were threatening to tear her apart.

'Besides,' Rose added, 'you'd probably turn into something creepy.'

Mimi grinned. 'Heh heh, yeah definitely.' She nudged her former self's shoulder. 'You know what, Rose?'

'What?'

'I think you're hot.'

Rose seemed to mentally recoil for a brief moment before something occurred to her and she narrowed her eyes. 'You're just complementing yourself!' she exclaimed, irritated.

Mimi snickered again, but it was all she could do to keep herself distracted. Deep inside of herself she knew that there was a very good chance that the upcoming events were going to end in her death. The dark half of Dimentio was going to do whatever it took to keep them from winning, and he was no stranger to murder. Truth be told, she was scared. Heck, she was terrified. She didn't know what the magician could do to souls, but it was probable that he could banish her to the Void at the very least, and she knew that if that happened there would be no coming back again.

'Mimi...'

Rose's voice brought her out of her stupor. 'Yeah?'

'I don't want to die...'

A chill went through her. 'Me ne...uh, yeah I guess you wouldn't,' she stuttered. The human girl gave her a sideways look that made her very uncomfortable. 'Listen, uh...' She shifted. 'I dunno. You seem pretty good at surviving. I mean you've made it this far.'

'I guess...'

Mimi put a hand on Rose's shoulder. 'You've done a very good job, Rose. I think you should be really proud of yourself.'

'You're just saying that so I can die feeling like I've done something!' the girl shouted angrily, turning to look right at her. 'You know he's going to kill me!'

'I do not!' the green girl shot back. 'And besides, how do you think _I_ feel?! The last time I encountered Dimentio _he killed me!_ You think I'm any less scared than you are?!'

'At least you have powers! You can make those jewel things and turn into a huge creepy spider monster thing! I don't have anything!'

Mimi flushed; Rose was right. The odds were against her. Suddenly she felt very sorry for the girl, so powerless and alone amidst a band of magical beings. What _could_ she do? It was all up to chance. The shapeshifter sighed. 'I'm sorry,' she said quietly. 'This is just how it happened. I'll promise you this, though...' She looked directly into the girl's eyes, and it was like looking into a mirror. 'If you die, even if I die, we're going to win. We're going to restore the dimensions to what they were. If you die, you won't be wandering the Void forever. You'll be in the Overthere. You'll be at peace again.'

Rose blinked, then looked away; a hint of a smile was on her face. Obviously the Overthere really was a good place. 'Well...I guess that's something.'

Mimi hugged her. 'You're a nice girl, Rose. I'm glad I met you.'

'You're nice too, Mimi,' Rose responded. 'I'll miss you. When all this is over.'

'Yeah...' The green girl felt as sad as she knew Rose did. 'I'll miss you too.'

Light Dimentio

'Your Highness!'

The heroic Dimentio regarded the high ranking soldier who had just walked in. He looked like he was spending every moment steeling his nerves a little bit more. 'Yes?' he asked, giving him his full attention.

'The troops are ready to depart at any moment.'

'Excellent, excellent,' the king said. 'Your efficiency pleases me like an elementary school principal gazing over his school's test scores.'

The soldier bowed. 'Thank you, your Highness.'

'Dimentio's own soldiers are going to meet you in battle,' the magician warned him. 'Many of you will likely die.'

'We would all lay down our lives for you in an instant.'

Dimentio felt a pang of regret; if they succeeded in killing his dark half and destroying the Chaos Heart, this world would crumble and the Purity Heart would restore the worlds to their former state. All of his people would be erased, never having existed. Unlike the rest of the worlds' deceased population, his creations had no souls, and as such would cease to be in a way that even those erased by the Void could never fathom.

It was necessary, though. If the Purity Heart was destroyed, they would all eventually drop like flies anyway and become no more alive than a doll. 'My gratitude has no bounds,' he thanked the man. 'Also, a word of caution: Dimentio's soldiers cannot feel pain.'

The soldier jerked to an upright position. 'What?'

'The Purity Heart's magic has sapped them of the ability to feel,' he explained. 'As such, if you wound them they likely will not respond to the injuries, unlike you. If you wish to put an end to them, you must strike them down quickly and without mercy.'

The soldier nodded. 'Yes, your Highness. I will give this information to the troops.'

'Good. Will that be all?'

The soldier nodded. 'I look forward to seeing the downfall of that accursed monster.'

Pain gripped him at those words, and his smile was unnatural. 'As do I.' The soldier left. 'As do I...'

'The final battle approaches, mm?'

Dimentio turned his attention to the old men he had previously had an audience with. Two nigh-identical individuals with massive beards that trailed down to the floor at their feet, their eyes glowing orbs behind their cloak hoods. In all the commotion caused by the appearances of otherworldly beings, Merlon and Nolrem of Flipside and Flopside had turned up unexpectedly. 'Indeed, Merlon,' he said. 'The fate of this world will be decided tonight.'

Nolrem shifted. 'I fear the power of the Chaos Heart will be too much.'

'It is a natural fear, and one that I am sure everybody feels. We cannot allow it to discourage us, however.' He tapped his throne's arm idly. 'We have come this far.'

Merlon and Nolrem gave each other glances. 'Er...Dimentio...' Merlon said nervously. Saying the name in a formal fashion did not seem to work very well with him. 'What of the Prognostici?'

The king reached into his cloak and pulled out the light book with the golden star in its centre. 'The Purity Heart is contained within this tomb,' he told them. 'I will keep it on my person until the moment where we are to destroy the Chaos Heart.'

'And the Dark Prognosticus?' Nolrem asked.

'My dark half will be in possession of it.'

'So when all is said and done, both Prognostici will be in our hands?' Merlon ran a hand through his beard.

'Yes.' Dimentio leaned forward. 'You wish to destroy them.'

The Ancient denizen nodded. 'The Light Prognosticus had been in my possession after the first Chaos Heart incident, but the Dark Prognosticus was lost.'

'It returned to its original resting place in my homeworld, where I retrieved it.'

Nolrem continued for his counterpart. 'The Dark Prognosticus continuing to exist was what made all of this possible in the first place. If we can destroy the Dark and Light Prognostici forever, then the Void will forever lay dormant behind the veil of the dimensions for the rest of time. This will never happen again.'

The king smiled. 'The best-case scenario, of course.' He leaned back. 'Once we kill my dark self, I will make it top priority to secure the Prognosticus and deliver it to you for disposal. Do you have any more news that demands my attention?' They shook their heads. 'Excellent, then. You may leave.'

When they left, he sat there for a moment. Then he got up and began pacing around the room. His smile had disappeared, and he felt a nervousness creeping through him. 'Dimentio?' Rosabella asked. 'Are you okay?'

'Hm?' He gave her a brief look, then continued walking. 'Ah...it must be pre-battle anxiety.'

The former princess walked over to him and laid her hands on his shoulders. 'Mister Dimentio, you are going to tell me what's wrong right now or else.'

He froze, staring straight into her eyes. Then he sagged and began to giggle. 'Aha...ahahaha. Even after all these years those words still fill my heart with fear. "Mister Dimentio." Ahahahaha.'

The princess maintained a stern glare; she was getting far too comfortable with him. 'Dimentio?'

He brushed her hands off of his shoulders and took a step back. He felt heavy; the weight of everything he had ever done was suddenly baring down upon him harder than it ever had before. He looked away from her. 'Rose, I...' His voice trailed off. Nothing he could ever say would be able to atone for what he did to her. To everyone.

Her expression softened. 'What is it? You can tell me.'

He met her eyes. 'I...I'm sorry.' He blinked. 'That was the absolute worst understatement I have ever heard.' He sighed. 'I was a fool. I was a monster. I was out of my mind. No matter what pain you caused me, you did not deserve what I did to you. All of this...' He gestured vaguely around them. 'All of this occurred because I was an emotional, lovesick child who could not handle rejection, and I...' He felt physically sick, as if he were going to vomit. 'And I should have let you and your prince be and not intruded. I should have been sensible. I had no right to be angry. And I—'

She hugged him tightly. 'I know we'll never be friends again...' she said softly. 'But I want you to know that I don't blame you for anything. It was all the fault of that evil book. Nothing more.'

Her words sunk in, and suddenly he felt some of the weight lift off of him. A shiver went up his body and he wrapped his arms around his former friend, gritting his teeth and failing to force back tears. The memory of Rosabella's death loosened its hold.

When he stopped crying, they let go. He quickly wiped the tears on his sleeve. '_Ahem,_' he coughed. 'Thank you, princess.'

The princess smiled. 'You're welcome, your Highness.'

The doors opened and Mimi walked in. 'Hey!' she greeted happily.

'Good afternoon, Mimi,' Rosabella replied, giving a little courtesy.

'Greetings,' said Dimentio stiffly. He was still feeling the effects of his apology. 'To what do we owe the pleasure?'

'The Count and the rest of them want to see you.'

His heart leaped. 'Why would they want to see me?'

'They just wanna spend some time with you. Before it all starts.'

He shifted. 'I...suppose I could entertain them,' he said hesitantly.

Mimi skipped over and grabbed his hand. 'All right then, let's go~!' She began directing him out of the room.

'Farewell for now,' Rosabella laughed. 'Enjoy yourself!'

_I make no promises..._ he thought bitterly.

They were all there, sitting around a table. Blumiere and Timpani were seated side-by-side, of course, with Nastasia at Blumiere's right and O'Chunks sitting beside Timpani. For the first time in a very long while, they were at ease. Happy, almost. A stark contrast to their demeanours while in Count Bleck's crew, where there had always been an aura of dark humour about them. Now it was all gone. Working on the side of good changed people, it seemed.

'Hello Dimentio,' Blumiere greeted. 'Would you have a drink with us?'

Mimi sat down in her seat. The magician slowly walked over to the only empty chair, staring at it for a moment before sitting down warily. 'Tea?' he asked, noting their cups. One was placed down for him already.

'The best,' Timpani replied happily. 'Your people make excellent tea.'

He noted O'Chunks' flagon. 'That does not look like tea.'

'Nope!' The Scotsman grinned. 'Finally convinced the lads to gimmie a bit o' whiskey.' He took a large drink.

Nastasia was visibly wincing. 'He mentioned he fights better while under the influence.'

'Aye.' The man burped. 'Just a mite though. Takes the edge off.'

Dimentio couldn't help but snicker at this. 'Yes, and I am sure a great, lumbering, drunken Scotsman barging at you from across the battlefield is a sight to behold.'

O'Chunks winked. 'Whatever works, eh?'

Nastasia sipped her tea; somehow, even the action of doing that was turned intimidating by her. 'We'll need to take whatever we can get we leave. This is the most important night of our lives. Perhaps the most important night of everybody's lives.' She pulled her glasses up. 'The fate of the worlds lies in our hands.'

'So let's just relax while we can,' Mimi quipped. 'C'mon Nassy, you're so serious all the time! You've gotta loosen up a little.'

'I find that difficult.'

'Perhaps you should have some of O'Chunks' whiskey,' Blumiere suggested with a playful smile. 'I wonder how well you hold alcohol in comparison.'

'Well we aren't finding out!' she snapped.

'Oh Nastasia, what's the harm?' Dimentio asked. 'They say alcohol makes the truth come out. Could it be there is something you don't want us to hear?' His old grin was back, and the back of his hand was placed under his chin; he was beginning to feel like his old self all of a sudden. This was kind of fun.

Nastasia's glare, this particular one of which she seemed to keep in reserve specifically for him, only furthered the nostalgia. 'How ironic,' she spat, 'that you would lecture me about secrets. Why don't you take a sip, Dimentio?'

He leaned across the table, his eyes narrowing, but his grin growing. 'Oh, why not have a little fun while I can, I suppose?' He waved his hand and the flagon moved across the table; he caught it and raised it to his lips.

''Oi!' the burly warrior grunted. 'I was drinkin' that, yeh cow!'

'Oh hush O'Chunks, you'll have your drink back in a moment.' He took a small sip; it tasted like smoke and wood, strong in his throat. He coughed, forcing the liquid down and placing it on the table in front of Nastasia. 'Eugh!' he groaned, then laughed. 'Now it's your turn.'

The woman narrowed her eyes. 'Fine.' She took a drink; a ripple of discontent passed through her that Dimentio barely saw, but otherwise she maintained her composure, giving it back to O'Chunks.

'Uh oh, Nassy's gonna get tipsy!' Mimi giggled. Nastasia made an irritated sound and rested her chin in her palm, with her elbow on the table. 'C'mooooon,' the shapeshifter sighed. 'Smiiile!' She pressed her fingers on the edges of her own mouth and pulled them into a grin.

The secretary sighed. 'I suppose I'm just nervous. We've never done anything this important before. Or dangerous.'

'I think you'll find that all of us are nervous,' Dimentio responded. 'Myself included.'

Nastasia raised an eyebrow. 'Now that's something I didn't expect.'

'In all likelihood,' he continued, 'my malevolent half could very well destroy me with his power. Even with the Purity Heart on our side, he is formidable. Perhaps more so than myself.'

'You have us on your side, though,' Timpani told him. 'Blumiere, O'Chunks, Mimi, Nastasia, Fawful, Esmine...I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll do what I can.'

'Timpani's right,' Blumiere said. 'We will all do whatever it takes to ensure you succeed.'

'I'll be rootin' fer yeh,' O'Chunks said next. 'An' maybe I'll see if I can give the guy's ugly mug a wallop er two before yeh beat 'im.' He drank the rest of his whiskey.

'You know I'll be on your side to the end,' Mimi told him.

Nastasia peered at him from across the table. 'I'll put my powers to good use.'

Dimentio looked around at them all; a warm feeling was spreading across his chest. A feeling he had never felt before. 'Ah...' he whispered, smiling. He looked away.

'You all right?' Mimi asked.

'Yes, I just...' He suddenly felt embarrassed. 'So this is what having a family is like. I have never known the pleasure.'

They all stared at him for a moment, then smiled. Even Nastasia, who was normally unresponsive, had the beginnings of one. 'That was the most sincere thing I have ever heard you say,' she said.

He looked back at them. 'You have no idea how grateful I am,' he told them. 'From the bottom of my heart, your kindness astounds me.' He could feel the Light Prognosticus growing warm against him; the Purity Heart was becoming stronger. Suddenly he understood exactly what it was that recharged the Pure Hearts back when he first attempted to destroy all worlds, and he understood why, when he attempted to block out love, all he got was pain. Love was powerful. At that moment he knew without a doubt that they were going to be victorious. Nothing could stand against this. All evil would collapse against its might.

'To the worlds!' O'Chunks suddenly shouted. 'An' to their saviours!' He raised his empty flagon.

Around him, they all raised their tea cups. 'To the worlds,' Blumiere agreed. 'And to their endless beauty.' Light Dimentio raised his own cup in silent agreement.

He finally felt at home.

Light Fawful

The two Beans sat on a hill, staring at the horizon. The sun was setting. It felt like it had been a long time since Fawful could appreciate a proper sunset. With the darkness out of his heart, he found he was able to appreciate it even more than before all of this insanity happened.

'How odd,' Cackletta said quietly. 'No matter where we are, the sun is the same everywhere.'

'Mm.' Fawful nodded in agreement. 'Dimentio had the making of a sun of beauty.'

'Guess the freak got one thing right.'

The red ball of light was tingeing the sky orange. As it sunk, he wondered if he would ever see it rise again. Though he supposed that if they won, he really never would see this particular sun rise over the horizon anyway.

'Times sure have changed,' the Bean witch commented. 'If you'd asked me years ago what the sunset was like I'd have given you an electric shock and told you to beat it. It actually looks nice now.'

'I have agreement.'

Great footsteps approached; Bowser walked up to them and sat down, making the ground rumble. Peach seated herself beside him, carrying herself with grace and care. 'Freak,' he greeted Fawful with a wave of his hand. 'Hag.'

'Oaf,' Cackletta grunted.

'Bowser,' Fawful responded. 'It has been a time of longness.'

'Yep. Last I checked I was watching you talk to us somehow in the Underwhere. Then I woke up here.' He stretched. 'Peach and I have been hangin' out. As friends.'

'He means not as husband and wife,' Peach sighed. 'Don't...it's a long story,' she said at Cackletta's odd look.

'I'll never be able to understand the stuff you get into.' The Bean witch scratched at her head. 'Though I suppose this is the craziest.'

'Pft, you think you've seen the worst? I once had the whole population of Peach's Castle running around in my gut,' Bowser snorted, 'and I never knew. Because of _that guy,_' he added, pointing a claw at Fawful, 'I was swallowing soap for weeks to clean out my insides!'

Cackletta laughed loudly. 'Oh Grambi Fawful, you've been up to a lot! Eeyah ha ha ha ha ha! That's got to be the best evil plot I've ever heard of!' The Koopa grumbled.

'It wasn't exactly the cleanest place...' Peach muttered. 'And I don't think swallowing soap works that way, Bowser.'

'Kamek said it did,' the king huffed.

'Where is Kamek being, anyway?' Fawful asked him. 'Did he have the appearing yet?'

'Oh yeah, he's gathering the troops. He said he didn't feel like checking everyone out.'

'Troops? What troops?' Cackletta inquired.

'Goombas and Koopas and tonnes more of my old army have been showing up!' he explained proudly. 'And they're gonna fight with the good Dimentio's guys to kick the bad Dimentio's butt!'

The Bean boy grinned. 'Bowser, you have excellence.'

'Gwah hah hah! Duh! I'm the Koopa King!'

They sat for a few moments, not saying anything.

'Fawful?' Peach asked. 'What do you going to do when all of this is over?'

A dark sensation went through him and he suddenly found himself facing all of the doors in the middle of the Void again. _After your tireless conflict comes to a close, what will you do? _'Erm... what are you meaning?'

'Well...' Peach smiled awkwardly. 'I guess what I'm asking is whether or not I should increase security in case you're going to try and kidnap me again.'

'Oh.' He hesitated. 'I...do not have knowledge yet. We will have to have waiting and seeing.'

'Let's hope you give up,' Bowser said. 'I don't need any competition.'

'All this happens and you're still going to kidnap her like usual?' Cackletta asked dubiously.

'It's sort of what he does,' the princess sighed. 'But Mario and Luigi will get me out of it, because that's what they do.' She paused. 'Though I guess this time I'll be the one to get them out of trouble.'

Right. Mario and Luigi were on Dimentio's side now. 'Maybe I could use this to guilt them later or something,' Bowser mused.

'Bowser!'

'What? A villain's gotta do what a villain's gotta do!'

Fawful found himself staring at the two of them. What _was_ their relationship, really? What did Peach feel towards Bowser? What did the Mario Bros. feel towards Bowser? What did Bowser feel towards the Mario Bros.? The entire dynamic was impossible to decipher, and Fawful figured that there was some twisted since of camaraderie within all of them that he would never be able to attain.

He stared at the setting sun again. 'A villain's gotta do what a villain's gotta do, eh?' Cackletta repeated to him alone.

The Bean didn't respond for a short while. 'Today is not the day for villainy,' he finally said. 'Today is the day for heroism.' Bowser and Cackletta both nodded in agreement.

'I guess you're right,' Bowser said. 'I can be a hero for one more day.'

Fawful knew he could too, but there was more to it than that. Right now, being a hero was what came naturally to him. He didn't feel like a villain anymore. He knew, though, that there was a perfect clone of him waiting for his arrival. Soon, he would have to battle himself. He dreaded to think about it; which side of him was going to win out? Was it going to be the hero, or the villain?

Who was he, at heart?

Light Dimentio

Mimi and Dimentio walked through the streets. The shapeshifter was holding his hand tightly, her fingers in between his. She had said it was for guiding purposes, but from the look on her face he knew it was more than that.

He held on too, and there was no ignoring the fact that doing so kindled feelings in him he felt without shame or disgust for the first time in his life. Granted, it did make him feel like a child. The quickly-beating heart, the heat in his face, the butterflies in his stomach, the unsteady footing. It was all so very trite, and he almost berated himself for succumbing to it not because he viewed love as imperfect, but because it seemed so_ juvenile._

No matter what, though, he would not change it for the worlds. For too long he had been deprived of her, all of it of his own choosing. He would do so no longer.

'I'm so glad you liked it,' she told him, referring to his time with his former world-ending crew. 'Most of them really wanted to spend time with the not-evil you.'

'"Most of them?"'

'Nassy wasn't looking forward to it.'

'Ah.'

'But even she looked happier!' the girl beamed. 'I'm so glad we could all be together again.' She turned and looked at him, smiling. 'You especially.'

He smiled back automatically, feeling his pale skin flush red. Mimi surely noticed it, but she ignored it. Thank Grambi she knew enough about him to not needle him about it. 'I must admit, I enjoyed the company.' He looked ahead. 'Where exactly are you taking me?'

'Oh, I found a really awesome place while I was looking for people to help us,' she answered. 'And I dunno, I just wanna show you it.'

'All right...why not simply flip dimensions to bring us there?'

'Yeah, gonna do that soon, I just wanna get away from people before we do it.'

'Ah.'

They eventually found themselves alone. 'All right Dimmy,' she said. 'Close your eyes.'

He sighed theatrically. 'If I must.'

'Yeah you must now do it.' He closed his eyes. 'All right, now just gimmie a second.' He heard the telltale sound of a two-dimensional box being drawn around them, then the flip. There was a moment of slight dizziness as they spun, then they stopped.

Silence suddenly descended upon them. The change in smell was the most jarring; the scents of stone, wood, and people were replaced with an overwhelming smell of flowers. Mimi let go. 'May I open them?' he asked.

'Yep!'

He opened his eyes; they were in the middle of a field of flowers. They completely covered the ground. Tulips, lilacs, roses, they were all there, and in every colour they could be. The mix of scents was powerful, but pleasant. They blew in the wind, their petals waving as if in greeting. 'My...' he breathed. 'Look at them all.'

'Yeah, it's crazy isn't it?' She bent down and smelled a flower. 'Ah... it's so beautiful. I just knew I had to show you one more beautiful thing before we started seeing horrible things again.'

He grinned. 'And yet the most beautiful thing has been here all along.'

'Mm? What's that?' He raised his eyebrows at her and suddenly she got it; she blushed and gave a shy smile. 'Aw...haha, thanks...'

They walked amongst the flowers, looking at the sun sink lower and lower. 'The final battle approaches,' he said. 'Not even the sun wishes to see its result.'

'What're you gonna do when it's over?'

He looked at her. 'What do you mean?'

'When we beat your evil half and destroy the Chaos Heart and return the worlds to the way they were,' she clarified. 'What're you going to do?'

'Ah...I...' He tried to speak, but found he couldn't.

'C'mon Dimentio,' she urged. 'I know you think about the future. It's almost all you ever think about. I know you know what you're going to do. What is it?'

He could feel the grief beginning to move along his face again. 'I...' he muttered, staring at the flowers on the ground. She knew he had an answer. He always had an answer. Should he lie? He could make up a story, he had so many. He was going to travel the dimensions, exploring and seeing them again for the first time. He was going to put on a travelling circus with himself as the ringmaster. He was going to help the heroes with their day-to-day life. He was going to live with her.

But he couldn't lie to her. Even though he was an excellent liar, he was incapable of it now. Not to her. He couldn't look into her wonderful red eyes and tell her anything less than the truth. He cared about her far too much to do anything less.

'Dimentio...?' she said worriedly. 'What's wrong?'

He looked back up at her. 'When all of this is over, I will be dead,' he answered.

For a moment, it looked like Mimi hadn't heard. 'What...?'

'Mimi, I...' He sighed. 'I will not survive this battle.'

The silence turned from peaceful to agonizing. A horrified and angry expression went across the girl; her eyes widened. '_WHAT?!_' she screamed.

'Mimi, don't—'

'No!' she yelled. 'What the Underwhere are you even talking about?!'

He stepped backwards away from her. 'There is no place for me in all the worlds,' he explained sadly. 'Even as a whole being, I have become warped and twisted beyond all recognition. No matter where I go, I would never be accepted. And now?' He gestured to himself. 'My soul is broken, Mimi. I am a mere shard of a whole person. If I kill my malevolent half, I will belong here even less.' He couldn't bear to look at her, but he also couldn't look away. 'The only place for me is in the Underwhere where I can atone for my crimes. There is nothing else I can do.'

'No. No! No way!' she cried. 'What are you going to do then, just kill yourself right there?! Make it two dead Dimentios instead of one?!'

'That was the plan.'

'_NO!_' she screamed again. '_I'm not going to let you!_'

'Mimi, try to see reason...' he said in what he hoped was a consoling voice.

She ran over to him and hugged him tightly. 'No. No, _you_ try to see reason.' She looked up at him and her eyes glistened with tears. 'I've wanted to be with you for...for a _long time._ And every single time we saw each other, you'd do something horrible. You'd kill someone, you'd destroy something. And even though you did all that, I still...' She hiccupped. 'I still liked you. And it was because of _you_.' She poked his chest. 'Because of the _good_ in you that I've seen before. Because of Light Dimentio. Not because of Dark Dimentio. And...' She buried her head in his chest. 'And I'm not gonna let you die just because you have a stupid guilt complex!'

He sighed and hugged her, running his fingers through her hair. 'Oh Mimi...'

'Promise me,' she demanded.

'What?'

'Promise me you'll survive. Promise me that if we win and you're okay, you'll live.'

'I...'

'Promise me, Dimentio!' She grabbed at his collar. 'I'm not going to let you die. I won't!'

He stared for a moment, heart pounding, then sighed. 'I...I promise. I swear on the lives of all who have ever existed that I shall try to live.'

'That you _will _live.'

'That I will live.'

A shiver went through Mimi's body. Then she touched his cheek with her hand; the contact made him warmer. She closed her eyes and pulled him closer, bringing her lips close to his. 'Thanks...' she whispered, then closed the distance between them.

Or tried to. Dimentio stopped her with a finger. She opened her eyes and pulled away, looking confused and upset. 'I believe...' he said slowly. 'I believe it would be best if we waited until the end for any heartfelt moments.' He smiled.

'Oh...' She looked crestfallen for a moment, then let go and smiled. 'Well okay then, but you'd better make it twice as good as it would have been!' She turned around. 'C'mon, let's walk a bit more!'

He watched her retreating form and his smile disappeared. In the end, he just couldn't stop lying. _Oh Mimi... _he thought sadly. _It is such a shame that you trust me. _He couldn't kiss her. Someone like him didn't deserve to.

He followed her for a time, but then something caught his eye. 'Look,' he said, pointing at the ground. One flower stood out among the rest. The ground was covered in so many flowers, some of which grew in clusters, but amidst it all only a single flower was unique: a white rose.

He bent down and picked it up. 'Do you remember when I gave you this before?'

She smiled. 'Yeah, I remember it...' He gave it to her and she smelled it tenderly. 'I don't think I'll eat it this time.'

'Ahaha. Yes, it deserves to have its beauty unhindered by a Rubee. Such a shame that such a thing will go to waste and die.'

'Everything dies eventually,' she said. 'All we can do is admire what it is until it does.'

He stared at the rose; it was so pure and beautiful. 'Yes...' he agreed softly. 'That is all we can do.'

Dark Dimentio

The malevolent half of Dimentio was walking down the halls of his castle. A deep, impenetrable silence had seized it. Nothing moved. There were no footsteps, there was no activity. It was empty. There was only himself, and a dead world all around him.

'They have the Purity Heart...' he whispered, his voice shaking with horror. 'They have the Purity Heart...'

The shockwave of energy had hit him with full force. He was dreading to find out what state his people were in. When he had returned to the castle after his humiliation at the hands of that horrid succubus he had ordered everybody out of his castle immediately, no questions asked. He was suddenly regretting that decision, because his castle felt less like a fortress and more like a tomb.

He exited his castle and ran down into the streets. When he got there, he was absolutely terrified at what he saw.

The place was flooded with people. Men, women, children, and elders of all shapes and sizes stood still, with their arms draped at their sides and their heads slightly tilted. They did nothing but stand, swaying slightly, staring into nothingness. They didn't talk, they barely breathed, and they didn't move an inch. The town was covered in corpses, dead bodies that stood and moved and breathed but did not live. The wind came over them and their hair silently blew like hair on a doll.

'You!' he cried. 'All of you, look at me!'

Slowly, very slowly, they all turned and stared at him. Their eyes were completely dead, their expressions utterly lifeless. The setting sun shone on them, silhouetting them against the horizon and making them look like figures out of a nightmare.

He was breathing heavily. He ran quickly over to one; a man. 'Say something!' he shouted at him. 'Speak!' The man said nothing, only stared at him without truly seeing. He turned to another one, this time an old woman. 'Address your god!' he roared. 'I command you to speak!' The woman just gave him the same dead look.

He screamed and spun around, kicking a child in the face and sending him careening through the air and crashing down to the ground on his head; it bled black blood. '_LOOK!_' he screamed desperately. '_LOOK AT HIM! BE SHOCKED! BE TERRIFIED! __**REACT!**_'

They stared at the boy's corpse with the same lifeless expression. That was the only reaction he got. He turned and began to walk through the crowd, his mind reeling, when he accidentally ran into someone.

It was Rawn. The man who had found him and taken him here. The first person he had ever known on this world. 'Rawn!' he cried. 'Rawn, it's Dimentio.' He shook him. 'Say something!' The man wore the same blank face as the rest, the only sign of life the faint breaths he took. The dark king grit his teeth in rage and punched the man in the face. He fell backwards and hit the ground, not reacting, not crying out in pain. Rawn laid there, immovable, unfeeling, staring up at the sky.

Dimentio was panting in utter shock. 'No...' he whispered, clutching his head. 'I can't...'

He howled, bending the dimensions around him, moving him. When the rush of energy stopped, he fell to his hands and knees. '_No!_' he screamed. 'My world, my...!' He pressed his head on the ground, breathing through his teeth.

What was he going to do? How could he continue? He had come so far, this world was his, and yet...

And yet...!

_Well?_

'Shut up...' he grunted. No, not this. Not these thoughts, not of her. He'd had enough of them.

_What now?_

'What do you mean, "what now?"!' he yelled, rising to his feet. 'There is no "what now"! My goal is the same as it has ever been!' His head was pounding, needles were digging into his brain. He swore he could see a faint vision of a girl in his peripheral vision.

_But Dimentio, all of this is—_

'_I SAID SHUT UP!_' he screamed. The other one now, the other girl with the pink hair. Two demons of his past come to haunt him. 'There is no other option! There has never been any other option!'

_But if you'd only—_

'You're DEAD! You're _both dead!_ _Gone!_ Along with all of your miserable worlds!' He staggered, feeling dark energy ripple from his skin. He could see pink along with the green now. He was seeing things. He wanted to stop.

_But Dimentio... _Rosabella's voice again. _If you'd just look around, you'd see the beauty of it all. Of the worlds you destroyed._

'"Beauty?" HAH!' he spat. His head ached, his heart hurt. He felt feelings clawing their way up, grabbing at his chest. Horrible, painful feelings. 'Beauty in what, misery?! If _you'd_ look around, you'd see—'

_See what? _Mimi's voice was so disgusted.

'You'd see...'

_Is your world truly so beautiful? Look around you._

He did look around. He looked at the sky, orange but darkening. He looked at the sun, slowly vanishing from sight. He looked at the ground around him; he was in a field of flowers of all kinds. For a brief second he could see himself standing before him, holding Mimi's hand tightly, but it too was only a vision.

A vision, he found, that he wanted desperately to be reality.

'What are you asking of me? To give it all up? All of my trials? All of my pain? All of my victories?'

_Yes._ Both of them had spoken at once.

'Never.'

_But think about it,_ Mimi's voice sighed. He felt dizzy. Was he really this far gone? He'd never been so deep in a fantasy. _The worlds you destroyed...yes, they had some really icky parts, but they had really great ones too! Picture anything at all. How can this...this whatever, compare?_

'I can think of nothing,' he grunted.

_You know what, Mister Dimentio? I think that's sad._

He felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he whipped around, dark energy curling in his palm, but no one was there. He dropped his hand, clenching his fist. 'Well, dear princess, do you know what _I_ think?' Neither voice responded. 'I think you need to go.'

_No._

'No?'

_There's one thing your world doesn't have, Dimentio._ The princess' voice was stern.

'What?' he snarled. There was no response. 'WHAT?!' he yelled.

The voice that spoke was not the princess. _You know what._

He stood there for the longest time with no response. Somehow, he was aware of the Chaos Heart speaking to him, but he didn't understand what he was saying. He felt like he was swimming through tar and couldn't get out. It was forcing him down, getting in his lungs, getting in his brain.

He looked at the ground; at his feet, amidst all the other varieties of flowers, was a single, white rose. He felt a chill go through his body. 'Haha...ahahahaha...' he giggled. He ripped the rose out of the ground and stared into its petals. 'Ahahahahaha...no, I'm afraid I do not, because there is _nothing_. Ahahahaha.' He pressed his fingers into the rose, burning through the white petals with magic. The flower began to burn, blackening. 'This world...was my only dream.'

He threw the flower into the air, watching the burning rose petals float to the ground. 'Everything is _perfect_.'

Light Fawful

The sun was a sliver on the horizon, and the sky was a light blue now. Night was beginning to fall.

It was time.

Fawful had seated himself among the army of people ready to depart, and rummaged through the contents of his storage cube. Some Mushrooms he'd stocked up on, just in case, some blasters he'd managed to finish, his incomplete robotic arm, and...

He took out a small, spherical device. Most of it was made of metal, though some of it was glass, allowing him to see inside. The orb was filled to the brim with a shimmering liquid; a sample of the water from the Purity Heart's fountains. It shone with light and power. The device was to act as a bomb similar to Grubba's Dark Energy Bomb used to blow up the Excess Express. Unfortunately, the method was a lot more crude; detonating the bomb would cause energy to pulse through the water, causing a reaction and evaporating it while simultaneously blowing apart the casing. The energy, left without a medium, would pulse intensely, causing harm to anybody containing the Chaos Heart's energy.

In theory. He hadn't been able to test it, because there was only one shot at it. He really hoped it would work though, because if it came down to using it and it didn't, that meant they were in serious trouble.

'Hey, fink-rat.'

Fawful's eyes narrowed at the voice, but he didn't look up. 'Helloing, _Kamek_.'

The Magikoopa sat down beside him. 'It's been an Underwhere of a long time, hasn't it?'

'Bowser had the saying so.'

'Well then obviously it's true.' Kamek snickered. 'So is it true what I hear? That you have no villain left in that ticker of yours?' He poked Fawful's chest.

'Yesing, it has truth.'

'Well, I guess that eliminates a bit of the trouble.

'I can still have the killing of you, you Koopa of oldness.'

He jabbed at the Bean. 'Somehow I don't think you'd be capable of it. Is that a bomb?'

'Yesing.'

'Good, we'll need it.' He looked back. 'Humans and Koopas, working together. What a weird sight. Though seeing so many humans in one place is bizarre enough.'

'Shh,' Fawful hushed suddenly, putting away his things. 'It is being time.'

Light Dimentio had appeared in the air above them. All eyes were on him. 'Salutations,' he said. 'I am the king of this land. It is time to bring the fight to Dimentio and take back reality from his grip.' He let his eyes travel across them all. 'Those among you who are not of my creation, you have lost much. Your homes. Your families. Your lives. Today, we will avenge those loses. My creations...you are dear to me. You have lived in fear of extinction for a long time, have been afraid of a monster residing on the other side of the planet. It is time to fight and dispel that fear. There is much at stake, and I am certain that none of you present now require any incentive to fight.'

Fawful stood up, and Kamek stood beside him. 'Guess this is it,' he said.

'I am guessing so.'

'I'll be leading a lot of the Koopa Corps, the same with Bowser. Cackletta will be fighting with us as well.'

Fawful raised an eyebrow. 'Who will have the fighting with me?'

'You and Dimentio will go in the castle itself, along with all the others who were with him before. The blue people and the huge guy and the green girl. And the human women. I recommend giving them blasters or something.'

'I have note,' the Bean replied.

'Oh and also Princess Peach. She'll be important for getting the Mario Bros. back on our side.'

'Are you ready?' Light Dimentio asked them. All those present raised their arms and shouted a war cry. 'Excellent.' He brought his finger and thumb together. 'Let's go.'

He snapped his fingers and they teleported out of the dimension.

They appeared before the castle town. The massive building towered over the village, glowing in the distance. Above it, the Void, an ever-present hole in the dimension no matter where you went, swirled and crackled, held open by the Purity Heart's power.

They walked as one, approaching the city. Eventually, they stopped; a dark mass had gathered at the gates. Dark Dimentio's people had formed a battalion of soldiers, waiting for them. They stood still, not moving, an army of living statues and weapons.

'This is it,' Light Dimentio raise, his voice magically projected over them all.

'MINIONS!' Bowser bellowed. 'SHOW THEM YOUR POWER!'

The entire army raised their voices in one unified roar, sending their aggression at their enemies. Fawful found himself roaring with them, adrenaline pumping through his body at the sound. This was it. The final battle.

The battlefield was silent for a few seconds.

Then, without a sound, without a cry or even a whisper, Dark Dimentio's army advanced. They ran without a single hint of bloodlust, or any emotion whatsoever, but their weapons were drawn.

Light Dimentio's army dashed at their foes, yelling, the clattering of weapons and the hum of magical energy rising up above their voices. The two groups closed the distance between them.

The two masses met, converging in on themselves. The clatters of swords and shields against each other was all that Fawful could hear. Magikoopas let loose their spells against their foes, soldier's slashed and jabbed. All the while, the blue-skinned people fought with an eerie, emotionless air. Every wound, every hole, every lost limb, was lost on them. They only stopped fighting when they stopped living.

Suddenly, the rush of dimensional travel surrounded him and he found himself in the castle town behind all of the conflict. With him were Blumiere, Timpani, Mimi, Rose, Nastasia, O'Chunks, Peach, and Dimentio. All of them looked at each other, and then looked at the castle.

They walked through the town. People were there; women, children, and the elderly. All those who could not fight had stayed behind, and all of them just stood around without a thought. They occasionally glanced at their enemies, but they didn't do anything to stop them.

They reached the castle doors. This was the moment they had been working towards for the longest time.

The good magician stared at the castle with a solemn air. 'And so we arrive at the final act,' he said. He looked back at them all.

'Get ready for the greatest show you'll ever see?' Blumiere suggested.

Light Dimentio smiled. 'Blumiere, my good half-brother, I could not have put it any better myself.' He snapped his fingers and his kingly attire was replaced by the familiar purple, yellow, and black jester garb. He placed his black and white mask on his face; it shifted expressions before settling on a familiar, chilling grin. He spread his hands wide. 'Ladies and gentlemen, let the finale begin!'

The doors opened.


	35. Chapter 35: Beat Down the Bros

Chapter 35: Beat Down the Bros.

Light Fawful

Fawful wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting when they walked in. When he had visited this castle at the beginning of the world's creation, it had been completely empty, with Dimentio in the throne room addressing his council about the threat the Bean posed to their world. How correct the king had been. Fawful had thought that they would immediately encounter resistance now that Dimentio's world had enough time to become accustomed to the two of them and that so much was now hanging in the balance.

However, the castle was as empty as it had been before. No one had come to head them off. None of the dark magician's emotionless people ran out to fight them. The only people in there were the nine of them.

'Yeesh...' O'Chunks murmured. 'I was expectin' some more people teh fight...'

'I guess it'll be a lot easier,' Timpani said confidently. Fawful imagined that the blaster he had given to her contributed greatly to that confidence. He looked at Timpani and at Rose, checking the guns they carried over with his eyes just in case he could see any glaring problems. He'd only completed those two recently, and he was hoping they wouldn't backfire somehow.

It was difficult to speak. The silence had fallen over them like a heavy tarp, and the darkness that laid outside the castle windows only further emphasized their solitude. The torches on the walls casted eerie, flickering light onto them, rolling shadows onto surfaces that they were sure were enemies come to fight them. Fawful had been gripped by an invisible figure; a hand clutched around his throat and a voice whispered in his ear, telling him _Don't talk, or monsters will come. _Every step was deliberate, every spoken word hushed.

It was irrational to be afraid as they were. They were up against the Destroyer of All Worlds, and fairly confident that the light of the Purity Heart could secure their victory. Why not stroll in through the doors with confidence and might, a swagger in their gait? The darkness, the quiet, the _calm,_ however, snaked around inside of them, restricting them. Something was waiting for them. Even if Dark Dimentio's people were outside battling Light Dimentio's people and the Koopa Corps, something was here.

'I'm scared...' Rose's voice was a barely-audible whisper next to him.

'We have power,' the Bean responded in the same tone. 'Do not have fear.' The girl held onto her blaster more tightly all the same.

They opened another set of doors and stopped dead. Standing at the other end of the hall were two familiar plumbers, staring at them with that hardened gaze. Their eyes filled Fawful with fear, and the beating he had recently received at the end of their boots and hammers came back to him. He clenched his fists, however; he had his Headgear now, and allies to defend him.

'Well well well~' Dimentio exclaimed with ironic humour. 'Who would have thought I would have to do battle against you two again?'

'Fate has cruelness,' Fawful replied.

'Mario!' Peach cried. 'Luigi!' They blinked, but otherwise gave no response. 'It's me, Peach! Don't you remember?'

'C'mon guys!' Mimi yelled to them. 'We're trying to beat up Dimentio, remember?'

'Care to be more specific, Mimikins?' Light Dimentio quipped.

'Mario, Luigi!' Blumiere urged. 'You are Heroes of the Light Prognosticus! Shake off your bonds!'

_'HAHAHAHAHA!'_ Everyone snapped their attention towards the high-pitched laugh. A green flying saucer, adorned with a gigantic, toothy grin and swirled eyes, flew in the door behind them and took its place above the Mario Bros. A speaker in the shape of Fawful's mouth descended from the bottom, and the Bean's voice screamed at their faces.

'Oh no,' Mimi groaned.

_'Oh yes!'_ Dark Fawful's saucer gleefully shot back at them. _'Now is the battle which has finality! You had the obtaining of the Heart of Purity. To you I say: congratulations! Your deeds have greatness, greatness for all the worlds! And, even more so, greatness for Fawful, for it is I who will have the reaping of the rewards which you have earned!'_

'I think you're wrong, Dark Fawful,' Timpani said firmly, then shot the saucer. It exploded into a shower of metal, silencing it.

Everyone looked at the woman. O'Chunks whistled. 'Yikes! The lass's got spunk!'

_'I scoff at your spunk, for Fawful is having resources which you are only dreaming of!'_ Another saucer flew into the room, the volume at least double the first one's.

'Does he never stop talking...?' Blumiere sighed.

_'Now, to have continuance.' _There was a noise that sounded like the Bean clearing his throat. _'The Heart of Purity will be the cherry on top of the cake of Fawful's plans! So to you I say, thank you~!'_

'Fawful, please!' Peach pleaded. 'You don't need Mario and Luigi anymore, let them go!'

_'Oh, such wrongness you have! I am needing them very much! For you see, Fawful is only requiring one of you to use the Heart of Purity on Dimentio! The rest of you can rest under the ground like sleepy, bloody babies that once had the crying, but cry no more!'_ Light Fawful tensed and his Headgear growled. _'So, Fawful wishes to have some fun. You will have battle with the red and green mustaches, and whoever has life after all the rest have deadness will be Fawful's winner!'_

'How do you know we'll even fight?' Rose demanded.

_'Then you will all have deadness. It is the call of yours. Nowing...'_ There was a deep inhalation from the speaker. _'MUSTACHES! HAVE BATTLE!'_

*Chaos*

Mario and Luigi immediately leapt into combat. The red Mario Brother jumped into the air, spinning and delivering a kick right in Fawful's direction. The Bean blocked the kick with his Headgear's steel mouth, but the force still sent him sprawling along the floor. The vacuum helmets rockets flared to life, attempting to turn the Bean in the right direction, but the hectic rolling made Fawful instead rocket around randomly on the floor.

'WAAAAAAAAAUGH!' he screamed.

_'Bean of stupid!'_ the flying saucer spat. _'You are having the scorching of the floor!'_

Mario jumped in the air again, prepared to come down on the Bean's small body; O'Chunks blasted himself off of his feet and crashed into the plumber, wrapping his meaty palms around him and bringing him to the ground. Fawful got to his feet, cursing his helmet and its rockets. 'Thanking you!' he said quickly.

'T'was nothin'!' the Scotsman replied. Mario struggled against his grip. 'Yeh're not escapin' me grip, Mario!'

The brother freed a hand and smacked a palm against the man's face. A burst of fire blasted from it and O'Chunks cried out in pain, grabbing at his smoking face. Mario drew his golden Ultra Hammer and gave the burly warrior a hard blow against the metal breastplate of his armour, a _clang!_ filling the air. The man choked, staggering back. Mario struck blow after blow, the sound of metal on metal punctuating every strike. The former general tried to retaliate with a punch, but the plumber dodged it and wordlessly gave him an uppercut to the chin, followed by a hammer strike to the torso that was strong enough to knock him over.

'O'Chunks!' Timpani exclaimed, running to him with her blaster drawn. Mario jumped high above the man's head and rolled in the air, preparing for a Ground Pound. The human woman blasted Mario, knocking him away from O'Chunks and bouncing off the stone floor. She grabbed his hand. 'Are you all right?'

'Ngh...yep! I'll be all right,' he answered with a smile.

Mimi and Blumiere both took on Luigi. The shapeshifter sent a hail of Rubees in his direction, which he dodged effortlessly. He jumped into the air and grabbed one in his palm, throwing it back at her. She shrieked and Blumiere shot it into shards. 'Careful!' he exclaimed.

The green brother sprinted at her and punched at her face; she summoned more of the gems to protect her, which the man's fist sailed right through. She jumped back and extended her fingers; the Rubee shards lifted into the air and shot at the enemy like a jewelled machine gun. He hopped to the side, evading most but suffering a gash in his arm. He grunted and put his other hand over the wound, smearing his white glove with blood. He glared at her, then took out his own Ultra Hammer. He jumped and swung at her; Blumiere met the Brother's hammer with his sceptre and dark sparks flew where they met.

'Luigi, control yourself!' the dark man pleaded. 'You are greater than Dimentio's control!'

Luigi brought a palm against Blumiere's chest, crackling with electricity. The man yelled and spasmed as he fell back, blue jolts of lightning dancing across his body. He lifted his hammer, then immediately brought it back down to protect himself as Mimi threw more Rubees at him.

'Leave him alone!' she growled, then summoned a circle of Rubees around herself and spun them like a saw; the man's hammer was enough to block them all. The denizen of the Tribe of Darkness lifted himself to his feet, shaking, and flew at Luigi. Mimi floated quickly to the side, gripping two sharp, red stones in her hands. They both pounced at him, weapons drawn; the plumber swung his Ultra Hammer and knocked away Blumiere's sceptre, then ducked under Mimi's gems and jumped up into the air, bringing his electricity-covered fist down on the girl. A rumble of thunder shook the room and a flash of lightning briefly blinded everyone. Mimi yelled in pain and shook on the ground.

Blumiere leapt to her defense, dark magic pooling in his left palm. He blocked Luigi's hammer with his sceptre, then shot his hand out and gripped Luigi's; their hands shook under the power of darkness and lightning. Both of them gritted their teeth, neither yielding, sweat moving down their faces. 'Luigi, you are a Hero!' the blue-skinned man spat with effort. 'Fight against this!'

The taller brother shoved the man away. Blumiere jumped into the air, swirling his sceptre. Luigi looked up and jumped, but was hit in the side by an energy blast and rolled along the ground. The former prince looked to the side to see Rose holding one of Fawful's blasters. 'I'm in this fight too...!' she said, her voice shaking.

The Bros. ran to each other, then jumped in the air. Mario grabbed Luigi's hand and spun him around, then let him fly right at Rose, who screamed and fired a wild blast that missed and hit the wall. Before Luigi could smash into the white girl, a dimensional barrier appeared before her and took the brunt of the blow. The plumber hopped off of it and threw a lightning-covered fist at his new foe: Light Dimentio landed in front of him and blocked the attack with another barrier.

'Oh my, that is a new power!' he exclaimed, his eyes widening. He clapped his hands and the barrier shattered, then waved his hand and brought the excess energy forward at full force, striking the human in the chest with the power of one of O'Chunks' punches. Luigi fell back, but Mario jumped over him and landed a kick on Dimentio, making him sail backwards. He dodged a blast from Rose, then a blast from Timpani, and wound back his hammer with the intent to pound the magician's brains in.

Nastasia landed in between them. 'I don't think so,' she said coldly, lowering her cat-eye glasses. 'Let's get you back on our side.' Her eyes glowed red, and polygonal energy spirals twisted around Mario. _'I think you can be released from Dimentio's control now, K?'_

The energy spirals suddenly turned black and then shattered; Nastasia's eyes widened and she stepped backwards. _'HAHAHA! You idiot of foolishness! Dark Dimentio's control is the gigantic sandwich to your mind control's tiny toast!'_

Dimentio teleported in front of Nastasia and blocked the strike from Mario. 'Ah ah ah, can't have you messing up any pretty visages, now can I~?' He was visibly struggling under the force.

'Always the charmer, aren't you?' the blue woman said sarcastically.

'Oh, none so much as yourself, dear Nastasia!'

The jester released the barrier and dodged the blow, then hopped up into the air. 'Nastasia, Dimentio!' Timpani yelled. 'I'm coming!' She shot a blast at Mario, which was easily deflected with a hammer strike.

'Ah!' Dimentio suddenly exclaimed, snapping his fingers. 'Timpani, if you could do that one more time.'

'If you insist,' the woman replied, then carefully aimed the blaster and pulled the trigger.

Dimentio teleported at her side and lightly jabbed the energy blast; it slowed down and compressed as the dimensions around it warped, then blasted off towards Mario at the speed of a bullet. It hit the man in the chest, making him crash into a wall.

_'Ick!'_ Dark Fawful's saucer groaned. _'You are angering Fawful like deadly, hissing poison! Your victories are the antidote in the food that I have made for you!'_

Blumiere parried Luigi's hammer blow, then Rose shot at the man, who dodged it; Mimi summoned Rubees and reflected the blast back at man, and the shot hit him. 'There are too many of us, Fawful!' Blumiere bellowed. 'Call off your slaves!'

A snort came from the speakers. _'I HAVE CHORTLES! Your statements are stupid like failing children from the school of oligophrenia! I will have the turning of the tables!'_

The flying saucer opened its mouth and two shifting orbs of blackness came out; one dropped black-and-white creatures of Dark Dimentio's creation, hissing and snarling. The other summoned metallic minions, robots created by Dark Fawful and bearing his face. They moved their limbs with a deliberateness that only machines could.

'Oh crap,' Mimi said, her mouth dropping.

_'Now have the chewing on the jerky of defeat! And have the choking on it as well!'_

Everyone dispersed, dodging sharp claws or metal fists. Light Fawful found himself staring into his own face, blocking a fist with his Headgear's teeth and ripping it out of his socket. 'No robots will match Fawful in combat!' he declared, having his Headgear swallow the metal scraps and spit it back out like a cannonball right through the stomach of the robot. Mario and Luigi were back up; Luigi drove his hammer down on Mario's head, compressing him, then lifted it and smashed Mario's side. The plumber was a human catapult, and struck a blow to Fawful that felt like being hit by a boulder. He flailed around, shaking his head to clear the stars out of his eyes before Mario decompressed himself. The Mario Brothers jumped as one, Mario throwing Luigi by his feet at him. He flew above Luigi and then descended upon Mario.

'Mustache!' he yelled, grabbing onto his collar and lifting him up into the air. 'Have the listening to me!' Luigi slammed into his back and he let go of Mario, who hopped off the ground and dealt a rising hammer strike to him.

Luigi hopped after the flying Bean. Mario crouched, ready to jump, but was interrupted by the force of a body crashing into him. He was knocked over, his head hitting the ground and making him roll. He got to his feet and was face-to-face with Princess Peach.

'Mario...' she said, her fists clenched. 'It's me.'

The Brother had no response; he just gritted his teeth and jumped into the air, bringing his feet down upon the woman. She unveiled her pink parasol, and the item weathered the entire impact, knocking her back. He swung his Ultra Hammer, but Peach deflected each attack with the umbrella. 'Please!' she begged. 'Listen, you have to snap out of it!' The man wouldn't answer, and only attacked all the more furiously. 'Well...then I suppose I have to.'

Peach jabbed away a hammer blow with her parasol, then put her entire body into an attack of her own. She rammed against Mario, knocking him back, then jumped into the air and brought her own feet down upon his head. Her shoes made a painful _clack!_ against the man's head and he cried out in agony, clutching his head. He shook himself, then took off at a running start and leapt at her, putting the force of his motion into an uppercut; Peach yelled, the painful fist knocking her into the air. She hung there, floating by a glittering magic, spinning, disoriented and in pain. She dropped to the ground and fell to her knees.

'Mario...' she breathed. 'Please, don't do this...' The man advanced on her with his hammer, rage in his eyes. She sighed. 'I really can't believe this. I thought you were _STRONGER!_' She jumped to her feet, taking out the frying pan she'd pilfered from a kitchen in Light Dimentio's castle and clocking him across the face with it. The distinct sound rang out and Mario spun around where he stood. 'I'll get you back, Mario!' she shouted determinedly. 'Even if I have to beat the mind control out of you!'

'Peach, look out!' Mimi called.

She turned around; a giant robot had rounded on her and was bringing its fists down. She didn't have time to react; the metal gauntlets were upon her. Before they could meet their target, however, a pair of equally-large hands closed around its shoulders and lifted it up into the air. A large monster, all muscle and split black and white down the middle, roared in bloodthirsty anger. Around it were red spirals of energy, and on its back, gripping its head with one hand and lowering her cat-eye glasses with the other, was Nastasia. Her glowing, red eyes were fixed on Peach.

'Nastasia...' Peach said, sighing in relief.

'Go beat up your boyfriend,' the woman commanded.

Peach's face reddened. 'He's not—'

Nastasia smirked, an action unlike her. 'Don't try to lie. Now is the time to embrace the truth, Hero of the Light Prognostius.' The robot was flailing its limbs wildly in the monster's grip. 'You might not have another chance later.'

The princess started, then smiled and nodded. 'I...I guess you're right.'

'Of course I'm right. Now go, or I'll have to make you.' She put her glasses back up, then snapped her fingers; the creature roared and ripped the robot in half, showering the two of them in a hail of mechanical parts and wires.

Peach turned back around and ran at the red-clad man, jumping over a smaller robot and kicking him at an angle. The man backpedalled, then threw his hammer at her; she ducked under it and it sailed past her. Then she ran up to him and brought her knuckles across his face. His face jerked back and he stumbled. She grabbed onto his shoulders.

'Mario. Mario!' she yelled, shaking him. 'Listen to me!'

He snarled and smashed his head against her own. Her head spun and she fell backwards. He jumped up and tried to stomp on her, but she just barely protected herself with her parasol. Peach got up and stepped forward, preparing for another attack, but Mario ducked under it and spun, kicking her hard. She cried out and her parasol was flung from her hands.

She was panting, and getting close to her limits. 'Mario...please...!' she begged. 'It's me! It's Peach!' She stared directly into his eyes. 'Remember me? You save me all the time, remember? We have cake together? We have discussions? You're so important to me!'

The man stepped forward, but somewhere in the middle of that step, he wavered and his eyes flickered. For a moment, he seemed to look straight into her. 'Yes...that's right!' she pressed on. 'We fought together! We battled Dimentio together! And I...I died, and you couldn't save me, but now I'm here! I'm here with you now!'

Mario had stopped walking; he looked physically in pain, as if his brain and his heart were battling against each other. 'N...ngh...' he grunted, and clutched his head with one hand and his chest with the other. His eyes were fixated on her, and in them was the very definition of torment.

She walked towards him slowly, carefully. 'Mario...remember...break free.' He stepped back. 'No, don't! Come to me.' He staggered, grunting, his teeth grinding. She opened her arms. 'Please.' She smiled.

His eyes suddenly looked behind her and widened in shock. She spun around just in time to see a creature leaping at her, fangs and claws hungry. She had to protect herself, but...her parasol was gone.

She had no way out.

A mortified, enraged scream came from behind her, followed by fast footsteps. '_**PEAAAACH!**_' Mario roared, and jumped in the air. Fire danced around his palm and between the cracks between his curled fingers, and he brought his fist into the beast's torso with enough force to go right through it, shattering the bones, black guck spraying out from the wound. Both the man and the monster crashed into the ground; the monster dissolved into goo, and Mario was left alone, panting, his knuckles on the stone floor, which was split and scorched by the power of his punch.

_'What? This has impossibility!'_ Dark Fawful spat. _'Green mustache! Have the subduing of your brother!'_

'Wh...Luigi?' Mario muttered, confused. 'What's going o—'

Luigi jumped in the air and hit Mario in the side of the head with both of his feet; Mario skidding the length of the room and landed in a slump against the wall. 'Mario!' Peach gasped, then turned to the younger brother. 'Luigi, I...'

The green Mario Brother was a terrifying sight. Dark, smoky energy wisped from his pours, casting an evil shadow over his face, and his eyes glowed a menacing red. In his hands he held both his and his brother's Ultra Hammers, dragging them along the ground; they grinded against the stone, digging up pebbles. Large sparks of blue electricity leaped around his right hand, arcing up the hammer's handle and around the metal head, crackling and sparking loudly. His face was set in a bloodthirsty scowl, his teeth clenched under his mustache.

'Peach, fight him!' Rose and Timpani both screamed, blasting at the Brother. He twirled, deflecting the blasts back and them and knocking them over. Bluimiere flew at him, stabbing with his sceptre, but Luigi swung his hammer upwards and knocked the man off his mid-air balance, smashing him with the electrified hammer and making him jerk around as he went to the ground. Mimi yelled and summoned a torrent of Rubees, but Luigi jumped high above them, knocking away the gems she threw at him in response and stomping on her head, hard. O'Chunks blasted at him with gas, grabbing both his arms in his huge hands. The green man hit the ground and then rocketed up to the ceiling, cracking the stone with the force and eliciting a croak of pain from the Scotsman as the wind rushed from his body. He loosened his grip and Luigi spun him around in the air, throwing him down to the ground. Nastasia directed her mind-controlled monster at him, growling, drool spraying from its mouth. Luigi hit the ground and ran right at them both, jumping in the air and bringing both hammers down on it as it swung its fists; its wrists broke, and the man used the leverage to jump up and kick Nastasia off of it. She fell to the ground with a _thud!_, and then Luigi finished off the monster with a ground pound to the head.

Both Light Dimentio and Light Fawful landed in front of the green Mario Brother. They looked at each other briefly, then nodded and fought. Fawful rocketed up and blasted Luigi with energy projectiles, which were deflected, while Dimentio threw blocks of dimensional magic at him. Luigi smacked one into Fawful, who spun around upon impact. He shook off the injury, then shot directly at the man, Headgear's jaws gaping. Luigi rammed the right hammer right into the mouth and sent jolts of electricity arcing through it; Fawful screamed, grabbing his head and spasming. The Headgear seemed to moan in audible pain. The man smashed the Bean on the ground, then spun around and threw him at Dimentio. The magician flew out of the way, then waved his arms and trapped him in an orange box.

'I'll have to apologize about this, my old foe,' he said, grinning. 'But I can bring you back after I kill you.' Luigi slammed the hammers against the side of the box; it cracked. Dimentio's eyes widened, then his face turned shocked when the man shattered it. 'No...impossible!' he croaked. The human jumped the distance between them and hit the jester in the stomach with a powerful headbutt, throwing him onto the ground.

Peach smacked him in the back of the head with her frying pan. He lurched forward, then swung his hammer behind him; the princess ducked behind her newly-recovered parasol, but even with that protection the force threw her back. 'Luigi, you can break free too!' she called. 'You're strong!' Luigi raised both hammers, the right one surrounded by lightning, and brought them down.

Mario jumped between them and grabbed the hammer heads, wincing under the force of the blows to his palms. Electricity jumped across his left arm and arced along his body, and darkness curled and nipped at his skin. His arms shook, his legs were buckling, but he held strong. 'Luigi!' he yelled desperately at his younger brother. 'Luigi, come on, you're better than this! You can fight this!' Luigi's eyes stared into his sibling's with utter, seething hatred. 'LUIGI, DAMN IT!' Mario screamed. 'YOU'RE STRONGER THAN DIMENTIO! _YOU'RE STRONGER THAN ME, AND I BROKE FREE!_'

The green man swung his hammers back up and smashed Mario with them. The hero brought his arms up to block the attack, but even then the blow was too great and he sunk to his knees. Luigi was gasping for breath, inhaling in laboured, angry breaths of air. He clenched his fists around the hammer handles, glaring at his brother.

Mario looked up helplessly at Luigi. 'Luigi...bro...' he pleaded. 'It's me. Mario.'

For a moment, it looked like Luigi was going to kill him. A wave of horror passed through all present, and they couldn't take their eyes away from the scene.

Then, Luigi lurched and dropped the hammers, shaking and holding his face in his hands. The dark cloud around him began to dissipate, and the lightning disappeared. Behind his hands, he was sobbing. He dropped to his knees and cried.

A collective sigh went through the group, and everyone rested their heads. _'What...no!'_ Dark Fawful screamed through the speaker. _'This has ridiculousness! I will not have the standing of this!'_

Rose and Timpani both blasted the saucer apart. 'Shut up!' they both snapped. They glanced at each other, surprised, then laughed.

Mario ran over to his brother and knelt down. 'Luigi!' he exclaimed. 'You're...you're back?' The man nodded, quavering. The elder brother put a hand on the younger's shoulder. 'It's okay. Everything's going to be okay now.'

They hugged. 'I...I was g-gonna...' Luigi hiccupped.

'It's okay,' Mario whispered consolingly. 'We both did some bad things. But it's okay now. We're back.' He backed up and extended a fist. 'The Mario Bros. are back!'

Luigi slowly uncovered his face and stared at the gloved fist with his bloodshot eyes. Then, he smiled. 'Yeah...yeah, the Bros. are back.' He bumped his knuckles against his brother's.

'I'm glad to see you both back,' Peach said happily. 'I was worried for a moment.'

Mario leapt up and spun around. 'Peach!' he suddenly shouted, then ran to her and wrapped his arms around her.

'Oh! H...hello Mario, hee hee.' She returned the hug.

'You died...' the red-clad man sighed, shaking his head. 'You died and I couldn't save you.'

'Don't hold it against yourself,' the princess cooed. 'You did what you could.' There was a hesitant pause. 'Um...Mario?' she asked.

'Yeah?'

'There's something I've always wanted to say to you.'

'What's that?'

Peach broke the hug and looked into his eyes. 'I love you. So much.' Then she kissed him, and Mario kissed her back.

The group looked on in stunned silence. Nastasia smiled softly, her hands on her hips. 'Good job,' she whispered only loudly enough for her to hear.

O'Chunks hooted. 'Aye! Three cheers fer teh princess n' her man!'

'Go bro!' Luigi laughed. Everyone cheered and applauded, and Mimi brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled. Even Fawful, as normally removed from these people's dealings, found himself clapping and smiling with the rest. The two of them broke the kiss and grinned sheepishly.

'Ah, love,' Light Dimentio sighed contently. 'It shines like a streetlight in the middle of a darkened road.'

Mario and Luigi immediately jumped to a fighting stance; Luigi swept up both of the Ultra Hammers and tossed Mario's to him. They spun and faced the magician. 'Dimentio!' they both yelled, then took off at a run.

'_**NO!**_' the entire rest of the group roared in protest. The Mario Bros. were thrown off mid-run and flung themselves to the ground, as if the deafening combination of voices were a physical punch.

'Woah!' Luigi yelled. 'What was that about?!' The magician chuckled.

'He is on our side,' Blumiere explained. 'We are battling his dark half.'

The two men stared at each other, confused. 'Uh...wha?' the younger one said. 'And...who's she?' He pointed at Rose.

Timpani smiled apologetically. 'It's a really long story.'

Mario picked himself up, then helped Luigi to his feet. The red man surveyed them all, then adjusted his hat. 'Well...we can listen.'

Light Fawful

The team, now with their numbers boosted to eleven, continued their trek through the castle. Robots and creatures now prowled the halls, no doubt sent by Dark Fawful, but after their previous battle their adrenaline was pumping and their spirits were enflamed. None of the common foes stood a chance against any of them, least of all any biological enemies, which could be easily brainwashed into self-destruction by Nastasia. Light Fawful's heart felt light, and pumped energy through him. His skin tingled; he was ready for anything.

Mario came up alongside him. 'Hey. Fawful.'

The Bean looked sideways at him while they walked. 'Helloing, Mario.'

'Glad to hear you didn't die back then. After I fell.' He smiled.

Fawful's eyes shifted and he stared at his feet. The boy himself had been forced to retell the events that occurred after Mario had fallen into the Void before the new world had been created, about how victory had been in sight, yet had slipped through his fingers because of his hatred and also because he had failed to actually kill Valex. O'Chunks and Rose had assisted him in everything else after that. 'It has fortunateness,' he said.

'You've grown a lot, you know,' the man told him. 'You're nothing like the kid Luigi and I fought before. Even if you're half of that kid.'

'I give thanks, I am supposing.'

'Do you know what you're going to do once we beat Dark Dimentio?'

The question pricked at him. 'Fawful has been asked that times that are numerous, and he is not having an answer.'

The Brother nodded. 'I understand. You'll figure it out at some point.' He patted Fawful's shoulder. 'I hope we can keep working together in the future. You could use your genius to help people.'

Fawful sighed. 'Yes, I could become Fawful, the Hero of Goody-Two-Shoes-ness. It has a ring which has pleasantness.'

The plumber grimaced. 'It's a lot better than you make it sound. Are you saying you want to go back to being a villain again?'

The Bean gritted his teeth. 'Let us have pressing on,' he hissed. 'Fawful will make decisions when they must be made.' They reached a door and pushed it open.

On the other side was Dark Fawful.

'Helloing!' he said cheerfully. 'I am giving you my greetings, like birthday candies which have sweetness!'

Everyone drew their weapons. 'We're gonna make you pay for mind controlling us!' Luigi shot.

'You're going down this time, Fawful,' Mimi growled.

The dark boy put out his hands. 'Whoaing! Lord Fawful is not having the beef with you! In fact, he wishes to give congratulations!' Nobody spoke, they just glared. He cleared his throat. 'You had the freeing of the Brothers of Stupid, and the defeating of my minions! It was a battle which had much entertainment for Fawful!' He nodded earnestly. 'Howingever, this is where Fawful must have the stepping-in.'

Light Fawful stepped to the front of the crowd. 'Fawful of darkness!' he shouted. 'I am having a bone to pick with the one who is you!'

'Ohing?'

'You had the defeating of me before, and I am demanding a rematch! The Fawful who is being the true Fawful will be decided now!' His body was pulsing with power, and he felt invigorated; he was going to win. He was going to beat his dark side.

His evil half grinned and raised an eyebrow. 'Fawful is liking this idea! Very well, I shall have battle with you!' He jerked his thumb behind him. 'Your allies can go.'

They all looked at him. 'Should we go, Fawful?' Mimi asked him.

Light Fawful nodded. 'Yesing. Fawful will have victory.'

His ten allies hesitantly passed the two identical Beans. The shapeshifter took one last look into the room, at the two boys trying to tear each other down with their eyes, then shut the door.


	36. Chapter 36: Fragmented Spirits

Chapter 36: Fragmented Spirits

Princess Rosabella

Princess Rosabella was staring out the window; above the castle, the Void hung over them, held open by the Purity Heart's power. It was a fixture in the dimension, and no matter which way she looked it seemed to always be in her field of vision. It was incredibly disconcerting. An air of evil was pressing against her from all sides, and she felt claustrophobic. Chills were going up and down her body, and her stomach was sick.

The world was dying.

She could feel it. The dimension's existence hung by a thread, upset by the Purity Heart's power and shaken by the strife of the heroes that had departed to end Dark Dimentio's life once and for all. Her heart was pounding, and doubt wracked her; could they really win? And what would happen if they didn't? What would Dark Dimentio do? Was the world doomed either way?

'Oh Dimentio...' she sighed, setting her chin on her palm and her elbow on the rim of the window. 'Please let your good half win out...

Footsteps behind her snapped her out of her daze and she turned to see a human woman with black hair and green eyes coming into the room. She was wearing an incredibly elegant dress, but she carried herself with the exact opposite of elegance. 'I'm...' she wobbled, clutching her stomach. 'I'm not used to this...'

'It takes a while to get used to having a body again,' Rosabella said, putting a hand on her shoulder and directing her to a chair. 'All your senses will be a little off for a bit.'

'Hopefully not too long?'

'No, not much longer I shouldn't think.' She sat down in a chair opposite the woman. 'Though I am not sure that the world will be around long enough for you to become normal again...'

The woman looked around, bewildered. 'I still have no idea where I am, and I don't think I ever will. And who are those fake humans wandering around? Yes, I know they aren't real. They're convincing, but not enough.'

The former princess sighed and shook her head. 'You seem clever.'

'I was, before I lost my mind.'

'Well...' The pink girl smiled. 'You found it again.' She rested her hands on her lap. 'So...where should I begin? What would you like to know?'

The woman fixed Rosabella with a hard look. 'I'm not interested in this world,' she said firmly, but not unkindly. 'I'm not interested in how it came to be or what happened to my world or anything of the sort. I know enough about it to know what I really want?'

The girl shifted uncomfortably. 'What...do you want, then?' She had a feeling she knew what it was going to be.

'I want you to take me to see him. The man who created this world. I need to meet him.'

She was afraid that was going to be it. 'Is there anything I can do to change your mind? It won't do any good at this point, and your life could be in danger.'

The woman shook her head. 'No. You'll take me.'

She hesitated, then stood up. 'Okay, I'll take you.' She held out a hand. 'And don't let go. Getting caught mid-flip is pretty disorienting.'

Mimi

Mimi walked together with her nine allies in silence through the hushed halls of the castle. There weren't any more monsters now that Dark Fawful was occupied with a combatant, and she supposed that trying to kill them would be less than favourable now. If they could defeat Dark Dimentio for him, then that would make his job easier than doing it himself. Taking a page right out of the traitor's book, obviously. The hallway stretched out in front of them, and as they got closer and closer to the end boss they felt a growing feeling of unease. Hopefully this would not be the last battle they ever fought.

A pit was in Mimi's chest; they had left their Fawful behind so that he could fight his dark half, when they should have stayed and fought alongside him, ensuring their victory. It was too late now, though, and they would have to just keep walking on and hoping for the best. Besides, knowing Fawful told her that he preferred it this way, and that trying to convince him otherwise would just give them an earful.

Very, very soon, she would come face-to-face with the manifestation of Dimentio's evil. She wasn't sure she was ready for that confrontation. She'd been told numerous times, however, that she might be key in defeating him; Dimentio in general had fallen for her, and if she could appeal to his heart there might be less of a battle to be fought. Love conquered Count Bleck, and love would conquer Dimentio.

A tap on the shoulder took her out of her thoughts; it was Rose, looking very apprehensive. Her face was even paler than usual, and her eyes showed raw fear. The shapeshifter wondered if her own identical eyes were just as afraid. 'Hey,' she said. The human girl just nodded ever so slightly. 'Scared?' Another nod. 'Me too. Dimentio's gonna want to kill me the second he sees me.'

'Comforting...' Rose muttered.

'What happens will happen,' Mimi offered in condolence. 'No avoiding the outcome here.' Another nod from the other girl.

'Light Dimentio wanted to know if you're ready for it.'

The green girl sighed sadly. 'Yeah. I guess. Are you?'

Rose shook her head. 'No. But I've got to do it anyway.'

'Yeah...'

'Whatever happens...you promised you'd win. Even if we both end up dying, you promised there'd be an Overthere to go back to.'

Mimi closed a hand around Rose's. 'There will be. We're not gonna lose.'

They look ahead into the darkness lit by the pale orange light of the torches. For some reason, even though she knew it was impossible, Mimi swore she occasionally saw the tall, spiked outline of Jaydes, the Queen of the Underwhere, in her peripheral vision, lurking in the shadows, following them just out of sight. She prayed that the woman would not have any more souls to reap than the ones they would create.

Light Fawful

The two Beans stood across from each other, staring, not blinking. The villainous Fawful wore a massive smile on his face, the heroic Fawful a serious glare.

Dark Fawful turned to the side with a dramatic sweeping of his cape. 'Such hilarity this has!' he laughed.

The other boy crossed his arms. 'Hilarity? I am not seeing how this has hilarity.'

'Fawful's fighting was tireless! Both the one who is you and the one who is me, as one, fighting fighting fighting, forever. Fighting to have the killing of his enemies, fighting to have the creation of the Heart of Purity, fighting to bring back the worlds of old. I have pity for him.'

He began to pace; all the while, Light Fawful followed him with his eyes. 'Yesing,' the benevolent Bean agreed. 'Fighting forever, like a boy who has fatness at a table of desserts that is never ending.' Dark Fawful guffawed.

'And now we both have battle once more, this time against ourselves? It has absurdity! To go this far, and to be opposed by the one who is us? Fah!' He crossed his arms. 'The one who is you and the one who is me...' He fixed Light Fawful with a red eye. 'We are both being Fawful. Why, then, must we fight? Our plight gives us ouchies and our tears have the crying!'

'You wish to join forces?'

Dark Fawful smirked. 'Two Fawfuls, working together!' he exclaimed. 'The thought has brilliance. Even the magicians of dimensions will be crushed by our mighty might!'

Light Fawful found himself at a very bizarre point; he absolutely could not stand this boy standing before him, and yet he had full knowledge that the boy was him. A mixture of disgust, anger, and, oddly, yearning resonated deep within him. Maybe they could work together after all...

No! He had come too far to make a deal with a demon. He had to take him down, then move on to help his allies. It was the only way.' I am not wanting to!' he protested. 'You have evil, and your evil sprinkles the spice of agony on the friends of mine! Fawful is wanting his world back, and he will have the killing of you if that is what he must do!'

'I HAVE CHORTLES!' the wicked scientist shouted, followed by laughter. 'Your assumption lacks correctness, and your introspection lacks clarity! You are thinking that I am wanting to inherit this world? You are wrong! You should be knowing me far better than that!'

'Wh...huh?' the other one said, shocked. 'You...are not wanting to keep this world?'

'Noing! I will have the killing of Dimentio and the stealing of the Chaos Heart, and then I will have the recreating of the world of old and rule over it with a fist of metal!' He raised his fist for emphasis, his grin widening. 'I am wanting my world back too.' He leaned forward, then placed a finger on his own chest and swiped it down across his heart. 'We are being two sides of the same Fawful, two halves of souls which have brokenness. We are wanting the same thing. We should have partnership, like two Fawfuls are meant to!'

For a moment, the Bean considered it. Then, anger welled up in him; he was being played. 'Noing,' he responded firmly. 'You will have the harming and killing of people who have innocence! You will have the killing of the allies and the soiling of the home of mine! I will not be working with you!'

Dark Fawful laughed loudly again. 'I do not have surprise! You are lacking villainy, and I have disappointment! It was not a time of longness ago that the name Lord Fawful gave fear! Because of _you,_ that name is soiled! Such anger have I!'

'You are being monstrous,' the benevolent Bean shot back. 'You have as much evil as Dimentio! Even as one Fawful, he had more compassion than you!'

'_Dark Fawful has no need for compassion!_' he roared. '_He is only needing dark power! Dark power and slaves to do his bidding!_' He swept his arms out and his dark cape billowed behind him. 'But first, he is needing to have the destroying of you! Now you will see the power which is only revealing itself through darkness! I will have the beating of your face until it is being creamed corn! Bean of goodness...' Dark Fawful hopped up into the air and his sinister Headgear activated, extending its rockets and head. The Bean landed, and dark power swirled around him. 'Face the fury of Dark Fawful!'

Light Fawful's Headgear did the same. 'Feh! Fink-rats such as yourself will see only the heel of Fawful's shoe! Return to the shadows like the sad, hungry dog which you are being, and allow Fawful to return the worlds to their place of rightfulness!'

Both Beans pointed at the other, and identical grins were on both of their faces. '_HAVE DEATH,_' they both cried, '_AND LET THE TRUE FAWFUL HAVE VICTORY!_'

Light Fawful struck first. Blasting off, with his Headgear thrusters powering his flight, he flew at his dark foe. Dark Fawful stuck his tongue out. 'You may have the blow of first!' he sneered, spreading his arms out. The good Bean blasted him with energy, which reflected off a barrier. 'Hahahaha! Uselessness!' His Headgear gnashed its teeth. 'Let me have the showing you how it is being done!'

Dark Fawful turned on his own Headgear's thrusters and fled from his light half around the room, dodging blasts that tore up the stone and burned the fabrics adorning the walls. Light Fawful gave chase, the air whipping about his face. 'Fool! Have the battling of me!'

'If you are insisting~!' The dark Bean put on the breaks and Light Fawful crashed right into him. The villain clenched the hero's shoulders and his Headgear headbutted the benevolent boy, with a blast of energy punctuating the blow. Heat seared across his chest and he crashed against the floor. 'Your fight lacks strength! Make with the giving up!' Out of his Headgear came a powerful blast.

Light Fawful pressed a button on a machine on his wrist and a barrier appeared around him, blocking the blow. 'Hah! You are not the only one who is having a shield!'

Dark Fawful slammed into his counterpart and their shields pressed against each other, crackling with energy. 'Your machine is no match for dark power!' The dark barrier ate away at the energy and pressed Light Fawful into the ground. He turned off the shield and his Headgear bit into his dark self's barrier, digging into the fabric of its energy. 'What?!'

The Headgear swallowed the chunk of dark energy and Light Fawful pressed its mouth against Dark Fawful's chest. 'My machine _is_ being dark power!' he shot, then blasted him.

The room shook with the power of the blast, and his dark foe was flung into the wall at the back of the room. 'Gngh!' he grunted. 'Fink-rat! You are not even knowing what dark power is being!' Black swirls of power billowed around him and his eyes glowed red. 'Only Dark Fawful is knowing!'

Dark Fawful jumped into the air, and Light Fawful could see dark tendrils creeping up the Headgear's neck into its mouth. He pre-emptively dodged to the left, and a blast powered by the Chaos Heart's energy ripped a hole into the floor, the shockwave throwing him up into the air and spraying him with chunks of rock and dust. He used the momentum and flew to the wall, bouncing off of it and slamming into the dark Bean, grabbing onto his chest with his Headgear. Black blood leaked from the puncture wounds and Dark Fawful groaned in pain. '_Have the releasing of me!_' he yelled, and the tendrils went up his helmet's tube again. Light Fawful made his Headgear fling him up onto the wall above his foe and he lifted him up; the dark blast he'd been charging went off and threw them off of the wall, blowing a hole in the ceiling. They crashed into the ground.

Light Fawful got to his feet and ran at his enemy, who charged up another blast. A memory flashed through his mind and, with the added force of his rockets, jumped over the blast, soaring through the air. 'Be acquainted with your past!' he shouted, then slammed into Dark Fawful's face feet-first.

'_AAAAUGH!_' the dark boy screamed, his head slamming into the stone ground. His red glasses shattered under Light Fawful's heels, tearing open his face and slashing his eyes. The good Bean jumped off of him and shot at him with a blast from his Headgear.

Dark Fawful reached out and caught the energy ball, crushing it in his palm. He struggled to his feet, clutching his face and panting furiously. Thick, black blood was pouring down his face. 'You...y-you...!' he seethed. Already the Chaos Heart's energy was healing his wounds, but his eyes were still a bloody, mangled mess and he couldn't see. '_I am not needing eyes to have the killing of you!_' he screamed, collecting energy in his palms.

He blasted at Light Fawful, who dodged the blast and collected one in Headgear. His head grew slightly warmer as the dark power swirled around in the glass container. Light Fawful flew at him, bringing back a fist, and brought it forward, expecting to punch the evil inventor in the head. Instead, the Bean teleported behind him and grabbed the back of his neck. '_Gack!_' he choked. He could feel him charging power.

He turned his thrusters and spun himself, then rocketed straight upward; he soared right through the hole through to the floor above them, barely grazing the edge. Dark Fawful's head slammed into the ceiling and his grip on Light Fawful's neck vanished. The benevolent Bean turned himself upside-down, activated his shield, then flew through the ceiling, colliding with Dark Fawful and dealing a blow with an energy projectile.

The force threw him off of the dark boy; he landed on his feet. 'Your skills are like rusty keys on the door of hurt! They are displeasing to Fawful's throat like rotten bananas!'

'_**GAAAAAAAAH!**_' Dark Fawful shrieked in rage, sending a shockwave throughout the room that extinguished the torches' flames, plunging the room into shadow. His half-healed eyes burned holes into Light Fawful's head; one was still mending itself, and looked like it had gone through a wood chipper, but the other one was nearly healed, and every ounce of the wicked boy's anger was seeping out of it. A thick, black aura surrounded him, and sparks of darkness crackled along the floor. '_**YOU HUMILIATE LORD DARK FAWFUL NO LONGER! LIE STILL LIKE VULTURE FOOD!**_'

Light Fawful shot up in the air and fired a hasty blast, his pulse racing at the absolute terror his foe was making him feel through pure energy alone. Dark Fawful vanished, then reappeared in front of him and grabbed his throat, smashing him down on the ground, then throwing him across the floor. The good Bean bounced, then righted himself with his Headgear and quickly flew to the ground as his other half flew at him. He grabbed Dark Fawful's ankle with his Headgear's mouth and cracked the ground with his body, then Dark Fawful jerked up his leg and did the same to Light Fawful. The heroic boy yanked the villain towards him, then brought his fist into his stomach, making him retch in pain, then lash his fist out and punch Light Fawful into the wall, his blow enhanced by energy. Dark Fawful charged up his Headgear again and shot at Light Fawful, who erected his barrier again and barely weathered the blast, which sent him through the stone wall into the next room.

The wicked Bean flew through the hole, the force of his aura knocking loose a few bits of rubble that hadn't fallen off. Light Fawful jumped up and lashed out with his Headgear, clamping onto his doppledanger and planting his feet on the ground. He pushed against him, trying to gain the upper ground; he grunted with effort, and his Headgear gave a squeal.

Dark Fawful pulled Light Fawful's face up to his own, and the good Bean felt his stomach turn at the sight of his not-quite-fully-healed face. Both his eyes were intact, but worse for wear. '_You shall not overpower the fury that I have!_' he snarled, then lifted him up. Light Fawful blasted his foe with Headgear shots, but aside from winces, the blasts were perfectly weathered. Dark Fawful brought him down onto a table, splitting it in half, then threw him across the room. The benevolent boy turned himself and put his feet against the wall, then flew back at his enemy and grabbed half of the table with his helmet's mouth. He touched ground and swung the huge fixture up at Dark Fawful; it split into pieces and the Bean stumbled. Light Fawful let the table go and hopped up again, his feet downwards, feeling very much like Mario and Luigi as he descended upon his darker half.

His darker half then threw his palm upwards, crackling with dark power. Light Fawful barely had enough time to reactivate his barrier before the blast of energy made him crash through the ceiling. He fell onto the ground and jumped backwards to avoid Dark Fawful crashing through the floor where he stood.

Dark Fawful blasted at him again, but he dodged it and the ensuing rubble. 'You are going to be needing better aim than that!' he taunted the villain. The other Bean screamed and his Headgear charged up with his palms. Light Fawful flew over his head and he turned around, dark energy ripping apart the room. Bits and pieces of a dresser flew throughout the room and the walls were crumbling. The good inventor took to the air again and his Headgear opened its mouth, priming a missile. It shot at Dark Fawful and exploded upon impact, fire blazing. The fabric in the room caught fire, and a bed went up in an inferno.

The dark Bean roared and took off towards him; Light Fawful jumped up in the air and threw a cluster of small, silver explosives under him, ducking through the hole they had punched in the floor. The bombs exploded above him, shaking the room.

Dark Fawful went through the ceiling and descended to his level. He was panting. 'You...' he groaned. He was bleeding in a number of places, and bruised, though Light Fawful realized that he was suffering from the same wounds. His robotic arm, however, was completely intact.

The villain teleported and his counterpart immediately ducked; a blast went over his head. He struck with his Headgear, knocking Dark Fawful in the head with the metal jaw, stepped forward and punched his face with his metal hand. 'You are having predictability!' he shot. 'Because you are being Fawful!'

Wordlessly, he disappeared and a number of Dark Fawfuls reappeared, surrounding him. For a brief moment, shock went through him, then one out of the group struck and grabbed him by the shoulders, with the others forming into one and charging a blast.

His eyes widened; those weren't illusions.

The blast struck him head-on and the Dark Fawful holding him vanished; he cried out in pain and he felt like fire burned his body. He smashed into the floor and heard things shatter; bones in his chest, and definitely a leg. He screamed.

He laid on the ground, finding Dark Fawful standing over him, rage in his eyes. 'Now...' he snarled. 'You will have death.'

Light Fawful turned on his Headgear's thrusters and flew backwards along the floor, not caring about the friction against his back and head, the burst of energy that blew apart the floor making him cartwheel as he flew. He pushed off the ground with his not-broken leg and blasted with his Headgear. As Dark Fawful jumped up to avoid the blast, he took out his blaster, turned its power up to its absolute maximum, and aimed it in one motion while he spun backwards in the air. He pulled the trigger and the gun exploded in his metal hand, the huge blast of energy striking Dark Fawful's head. His sinister Headgear was blown clean off, ripped apart into chunks of metal and glass, with the evil Bean himself falling down to the ground, his head burned.

When he got back up, his teeth were grinding themselves thin and his eyes were deep red. '_**FINK-RAT!**_' he shrieked. '_**I WILL HAVE THE DESTROYING OF YOU YET!**_'

Light Fawful stuck out his tongue. 'Nyeeeeeeeh!' he jeered.

Dark magic struck him in the chest and made him crash into the wall. Dark Fawful grabbed him by the chest and smashed him against it again, then against the floor. Shadowy tendrils extended from his aura and wrapped around his arms and his legs, holding him aloft. They jerked him back and slammed him into the wall again, then the floor. 'HAHAHAHAHAHA!' the villain cackled. '_HAHAHAHAHA! __**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_' The tendrils were burning into his wrist and ankles and writhing around in his head. He heard laughter along with Dark Fawful's, and unintelligible blabbering and screaming; they tugged at his mind and stuck into his brain like needles. '_Fawful is wanting to show you something before he is killing you!_' Dark Fawful yelled. Then tendrils extended up, forcing him through every floor and throwing him down onto the roof of the castle.

The dark Bean blew through the floor he was lying on, picked him up, and then touched ground again, holding Light Fawful by the throat and laughing in his face. 'You are having such patheticness!' he screamed, his eyes wide and his grin huge. 'Your technology is no match for the dark power that I am wielding!' He squeezed against his throat, and tiny tendrils of blackness pricked at his neck. 'I could have the killing of you right now!'

'Then...why...a-are you...n-not...?' Light Fawful asked through constricted breath. He knew the answer already.

'Because I am wanting to show you something!' Dark Fawful turned him around, grabbing him by the back of the neck again and jerking his head up to look at the Void looming above them. It was just as imposing and all-encompassing as it was without the Purity Heart's restricting grip around it; a deep rumbling could be heard even from where they stood, and black lightning flashed in its depths. 'It is being the Void,' the dark Bean hissed into his ear. 'That is the power which Fawful is wielding, and the power which will have the destroying of this world and rebuilding of a world that will belong to Fawful.' He shook his arm, and Light Fawful twitched, sharp pains stabbing into his head; he moaned dizzily, and the vision of the Void blurred. 'Are you not seeing? Are you not seeing that this is why you can never have victory over me? Your half of darkness is far superior! I will have the crushing of your mind and the reducing of you to a tiny baby feasting on formula made of drool and poop! Hahahahahahahahahaha!'

Light Fawful's head hung to the side. 'F...fah...' he spat.

His Headgear spun around, extended its jaws, then clamped as hard as it could onto the sides of Dark Fawful's head. The Bean screamed in agony as black blood gushed from his temples, mingling with the metal teeth. The dark energy that the Headgear had stored was put into a blast of energy that enveloped his whole head, making him roll along the castle's roof and settle onto the ground, smoke trailing from his cranium. He attempted to get to his feet, but Light Fawful had already shaken off the dizziness and grabbed his dark counterpart, flying up and then bringing him through all the floors of the castle, back to the ground again.

Light Fawful landed on the ground and looked down at Dark Fawful; the wretched boy was moaning in pain, twitching as the Chaos Heart's energy was attempting to reconstruct his disfigured face. Energy was already swirling in Headgear's mouth, and Light Fawful had his face set in a stoic glare. 'Welling,' he sighed, lifting his arms briefly. 'That is being that.' His adrenaline was beginning to fade, and the wounds he'd suffered during the battle were beginning to be felt. Red blood leaked from different spots on him, and parts of his body were blackened and swollen. But his enemy was lying on the ground, at his mercy. He had won.

Dark Fawful tilted his head slowly to look into the eyes of his twin. 'Haah...haah...' he panted. 'You...are thinking you have victory...b-but...I am having one m-more...trick up the sleeve of mine...' A broad smile spread across his face, giving him a lopsided and demented look with his deformed face.

The good Bean frowned. 'What?'

Then he saw it: in Dark Fawful's left palm was a small device shaped like a walky-talky, with an antenna jutting out from the top and a large button on its face. His heart dropped and his eyes widened, and he was suddenly very aware of who it was who had made his metal arm for him. 'Heh heh...' the dark boy snickered. 'Boom.'

He pressed the button. A small beeping noise sounded from Light Fawful's left shoulder. He looked at his arm, then back at Dark Fawful. 'You—'

His robotic arm exploded in a blast of light, sound, and fire. A high pitched tone rang in his left ear, stabbing at his eardrum, his vision was overtaken by a blinding light. A searing, white-hot pain engulfed half of his body, and the blast knocked him over and tore his shoulder right off. Burns rippled across his side and leg, and he landed on the ground, his Headgear slamming onto the stone.

His head was spinning, and the sheer pain was blocking out some of his ability to comprehend the situation. What had just happened? He could feel blood coming out of the void in his shoulder; his face was frozen in shock.

'Hahahaha..._hahahahaha!_' Dark Fawful wobbled to his feet, giggling like a schoolboy. 'N...now you are...being at the mercy of Dark Fawful! The tables have had the turning like tables of turning!' He stuck out his palm, dark energy gathering in it. 'You are going to have death now. Goodbye!'

In one last, desperate act, the good Bean reached into his storage cube with the arm that wasn't now gone, took out the Light Energy Bomb, and pressed the button on it. Saying nothing, only keeping his eyes fixed on his dark clone, he tossed it at him.

The Bean started, looking at the bomb as it flew. 'Huh?'

The water inside the bomb glowed and fizzled, then the casing blew apart; a clear, beautiful note chimed upon its release and a wave of energy permeated with love and positivity washed over them both. To Light Fawful, it was as if a soothing mist had rolled into him, and he could feel his wounds healing as it lingered over him. Even though he was dying, he felt happy, and smiled.

Dark Fawful gave a bloodcurdling scream of agony, and the mixture of the Purity and Chaos Heart's energies changed the sound of the note to a shrill, dissonant hiss. The benevolent boy winced at the noise assaulting his ears, but his doppleganger staggered backwards, screeching. The energy ate away at his skin, tearing him apart atom by atom. Globs of black sludge poured off of his body and splattered against the ground, and one of his fingers fell off and lay twitching on the stone. He fell over into a puddle of his own body, his cries quieting as the wave dissipated.

The two Beans laid still, one lying in a growing collection of red blood that leaked out of his shoulder and other parts that had been damaged by the explosion, the other in a large puddle of guck. Pain arced through both of their bodies, and neither spoke for a long time.

Dark Fawful screamed. He screamed and pounded against the ground, his fists splashing the sludge again and again. '_**NO!**_' he howled. '_**NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAH!**_' Light Fawful groaned and turned his head to look at the boy; he was writhing on the ground, smacking his hands and feet around him, pounding the back of his head against the floor. His face was caked with dark goo, and his body had begun to fall apart; muscle and sinew were frayed and torn underneath the skin, and in some places the Purity Heart's power had eaten right down to the bone. One of his eyes had been reduced to a pile of mush, and part of his mouth had wasted away, exposing the massive teeth it hid. '_**WHY?! WHYYYYYYYY?!**_' He pounded the ground again. '_**THE DEFEAT AGAIN! ALWAYS THE DEFEAT! AND THIS TIME BY FAWFUL! BY THE ONE WHO IS ME! NO! THIS! HAS!**_' His voice croaked. 'THIS...has...'

He rested his head on the floor. A moment passed with nothing happening, and Light Fawful wondered if his dark self had died.

Then, he heard it: the boy was crying.

'Why...?' he sobbed. 'Why again? Why the failure?' He clenched his teeth and screamed through them, then hit the floor through the guck again. 'Always the failure...even with dark power. Even with Dimentio. I...' He shuddered. 'I had the planning...I had the scheming...I...' Tears were rolling down his face. 'All Fawful wanted, just the time of once, was..._triumph._'

That word dug into Light Fawful's heart and stabbed at it. In that word was a lifetime's worth of childish dreams and desperation, of a desire to please someone else and a desire to please oneself. All of the time he had spent festering and growing in Cackletta's shadow, all of the time he had stewed over his many defeats, all of the time he had spent running and fighting for his life, and all the time he had spent dying, were contained within that word.

He suddenly realized how young he was. He didn't know his age, but he knew he was young, too young for all of this. He remembered the visions of his birth parents in the Void, so melancholy, crying for the life their son had been forced to live. He knew what Dark Fawful desired: a world where he could be what he wanted, do what he wanted, without being commanded by others. No Cackletta. No Dimentio. No Mario Bros. Nobody. Just him. In control. Victorious. Happy. All he had wanted was to be happy, the only way he knew he could be.

What a sad thing he was.

Light Fawful, with great effort and pain, heaved himself up, then lurched and clutched his stomach, which gave him more pain. His vision was blurring, his body weakening; how much blood had he lost? His Headgear used its rockets to help him to his feet, and he limped over to Dark Fawful. The boy looked up at him, utter defeat in his eyes. There was nothing left for him.

'Well...?' the dark Bean choked.

'Well...?' the other boy repeated.

'Have the killing of me. I have tiredness of this life of disappointment.'

'No.'

Dark Fawful looked at him incredulously. '_No?_'

Light Fawful shook his head, then almost fell over. 'Nnnn...o...' he muttered, slurring the word. 'I am...not wanting to have the killing of you. You are...deserving of more. You are deserving of...' He coughed. 'Love.'

The evil Bean's face contorted in insulted rage. '_Love?! _Hah!' he spat. 'I am not needing love! I am not needing anything! I will have death in my hatred and failure! All those who _loooved_ Fawful can mourn his resting in the earth for all he is caring! Those pathetic fink-rats, breaking the heart of Fawful, taking the achievements of Fawful! _What use has he ever been having for them?! I am not needing them! They can have death too! And this world! And EVERYTHING!_' He was screaming hysterically now, and quavering. '_THE WORLDS STEPPED ON FAWFUL LIKE GIANT STOMPY BOOTS! THEY HAD THE STEALING OF HIS PRIDE AND HIS ACHIEVEMENTS! NOTHING BELONGED TO FAWFUL! NOTHING! THEY CAN BECOME DUST, BECAUSE__** FAWFUL! IS! NOT! CARING!**_'

He let his head fall back down to the floor and cried again. Light Fawful swayed; his mind was beginning to become heavy, and thinking was becoming a chore. His entire left side was coated with blood. 'No...' he whispered. 'You are being me...I know you are wanting it...' He extended a hand, and Dark Fawful looked at it. 'I will have the...forgiving of you...and we will...have victory...togeth...er...' He collapsed onto the floor. Fawful's dark side was staring at him, his mouth open, his eyes wide. Light Fawful's body felt like it weighed a million tonnes, but he still heaved himself up and extended his hand. 'Pl...ease...' He could feel something inside of him filling him with longing, pulling him. Dark Fawful's eyes showed that he felt it too.

'Victory...together...' he breathed, as if in a trance. 'I...I am thinking that...that is good.' Tears had mingled with the guck on his face. His voice was thick with emotion.

They stared into each other's eyes, identical except for colour, and saw themselves in their clone. For the first time, they fully understood what it meant to be made by their fragmented souls: no matter how different they became, they would still remain tethered to the memory of the one that they had once been. They were the same.

Dark Fawful extended a hand, and wisps of light travelled between them. As he closed his fingers around Light Fawful's, something clicked. They knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was how they were meant to be.

Death came swiftly for them both.

Light Dimentio

The ten of them stood outside of the doors to the throne room, each feeling dread in their stomachs. Mario was tense, his face stony; Luigi was shivering. Peach had a worried look on her face, and Rose looked apprehensive. O'Chunks' expression was set for battle, but there was fear behind it; Nastasia's gaze was cold and deadpan, but she bit her lip anxiously. Blumiere gripped his sceptre in his hand, holding Timpani close to him, who stared at the door as if they contained her worst fear. Mimi looked incredibly afraid to face the person behind those doors, and tugged on the hem of her dress.

The light magician had to admit, he was also afraid. This was the culmination of everything that had occurred since Dimentio and Fawful returned from the Underwhere. All the pain, all the suffering, all the death and despair, was coming to an end, here and now. He wasn't certain if they could win. A large part of him — depressingly-large — was sure that they would all die, and their efforts would all be in vain.

He took out the Light Prognosticus and opened it; the Purity Heart came out in a golden light, hovering above them and dousing them all in its energy. They could feel their spirits lifting, their confidence growing. The jester put his hand up and touched the Heart; it disappeared in a flash and entered his body, and he felt its power shake his bones.

He turned to everyone. 'At last we arrive at the final confrontation,' he told them. 'It is time to take back the worlds.' They all nodded. He turned around and opened the doors.

He sat on the throne at the end of the room, learning against its back, with his expression bored and spent. He was cloaked in a swath of darkness which had leeched into his white, royal clothes, dying it black, and his one larger eyeball, once yellow, glowed an intense red.

'Finally,' said Dark Dimentio, his voice controlled. 'I am able to meet my reflection.'

The other magician walked in, along with Rose and O'Chunks. 'Indeed,' he responded. 'It is time for our final duel. I believe you will enjoy the new company.' The rest of the group walked in.

The king surveyed them all, his face moving more into a scowl as he saw them. 'My past never ceases to haunt me, I see. How ironic.'

The masked jester gave a borderline-sadistic smile. 'Oh, but the best has not even shown their face yet!'

Dark Dimentio frowned. 'And what, pray tell, is "the best"?'

The group separated, and a girl slowly walked to the front of the group, not taking her eyes off of him. As she came closer, the man's face changed, slowly, to one of wide-eyed, agonized shock.

'Y...you...' he whispered, his voice shaking with horror.

'Um...' Mimi muttered quietly. 'Hi...Dimentio.'


	37. Chapter 37: The Impetus of Light

Chapter 37: The Impetus of Light

Bowser

Bowser swung his fists, his powerful arms giving him the strength to punch through armour and shatter bones. Blue-skinned people went limp against his force, and broke down into paste. 'GRAAAAAH!' he roared. 'LONG LIVE THE KOOPA KING!' His army, the Koopa Corps, shouted simultaneously in response. Bowser blew fire out from his gullet and many soldiers went up in flames.

A man with an axe silently swung it at his back; it bounced off his thick, spiked shell. He turned around, grabbed the man's entire body, then lifted him up and smashed him on the ground. Another man jumped onto his back, then another, and another. He bellowed in frustration, shaking around, but they held fast. 'Get off of me you losers!' He fell backwards onto his back, impaling them on his spikes, but found a problem. '...uh oh. I can't get up!' He teetered on his shell, attempting to get to his feet, but to no avail.

A soldier hopped up on him and stabbed in him in the stomach with his sword, the cold steel puncturing the weak underbelly and digging into blood. Pain shot through Bowser's body the likes of which he hadn't felt in his entire lifetime, and he cried out in pain. Mario and Luigi had never used swords!

A multicoloured blast of magic blew the soldier off of him, making him roll around in the dust. 'Your Bossiness!' Kamek shouted, running over to him. 'Are you hurt?'

'_I'VE GOT A SWORD STICKING OUT OF ME WHAT DO YOU THINK?!_' he snarled furiously. '_AND I CAN'T GET UP! HELP ME OUT HERE!_'

The Magikoopa waved his wand and lifted Bowser to his feet, then waved it again and the sword dislodged from his stomach. 'I've got some Mushrooms here if you want them.' He held them out. 'They're a bit dirty from the fighting, but—'

The great Koopa snatched the items from Kamek's hands and snarfed them back in half a second. 'Awesome, ya old koot!' he said between munches, then hopped over Kamek and ground pounded a man about to stab the wizard in the back. 'And watch out, will you?! This is way more dangerous than anything we've done before!'

Kamek waved his wand, rainbow light pulsating in its core. 'I dunno, I'd rather be on the end of a sword than the underside of one of those two bozos' boots, personally. _Reicio!_' A powerful magical fireball shot out of his wand, striking another emotionless soldier in the chest, exploding on contact and making him fly into several of his comrades. 'And I'd rather have "stabbed by soldier" on my tombstone than "crushed by fat Italian plumber" any day!'

'BWAH HAH HAH HAH!' Bowser laughed. 'You're cracking me up!' He took a deep breath and blew fire out of his mouth, setting several soldiers ablaze. To his shock, they kept on fighting as if nothing had happened, their blank expressions looking eerie amidst the crackling flames. He ducked into his shell and spun rapidly, turning himself into a whirling vortex of spines and knocking them aside. When he got back out, he said, 'I don't think Dimentio's gonna give us any tombstones though.'

'Probably not.'

A red blur pounced on one of the soldiers and bit through the chainmail over his throat, puncturing the skin and making black blood gush over its mouth. It jumped off of the rapidly-dying man and slashed out with claws at another, ripping through steel and digging through bone. It dodged and weaved through the clamouring armies of humans, dolls, and Mushroom denizens, making mincemeat of any of Dark Dimentio's people unfortunate enough to stand in its way. It grabbed one solder by the throat and threw it into another, then snarled at it.

'Holy cow,' Bowser said, gaping. 'What the heck happened to you?!'

Esmine looked sideways at the Koopa, who backed up nervously. The succubus' demonic features were out in full force; her eyes were fully yellow, with two black, horizontal slits of pupils slashing them down the middle. Her teeth were complete fangs, their tips glinting as she bared them, and her hands ended in razor-sharp claws. Her skin, normally smooth and creamy, was rough and smeared with dirt and blood. Black liquid dripped from her claws and fangs, and a trail of the dark stuff was smudged around her mouth where she'd attempted to lick it off with her tongue.

The demon grinned, showing off her rows of dangerous teeth, but said nothing. She ran at the Koopa, jumped up, and bounced off his head, making him growl in annoyance. She landed in a group of soldiers attacking some of Light Dimentio's people and gouged out their eyes, cackling madly. _'LET ME SEE YOUR BLOOD!'_ she screamed, her voice reverberating along with a thousand others. _'SHOW ME THE FAKE SLUDGE FLOWING THROUGH YOUR SHELLS!'_ She caught a sword by the blade and tossed it up, gutting the man who had stabbed at her with her claws, then grabbing the sword and ramming it through the skull of another.

Bowser headbutted more soldiers, who fell to the ground without a reaction. 'Kamek!' he shouted. 'Do your magic thingy at me!'

Without a word of caution, the Magikoopa shot a multicoloured, magical projectile at his king, who chomped down on it and swallowed. Then he took a deep breath and blew out fire; instead of the billowing flames that he usually had, a rainbow-coloured torrent of flame and magical shockwaved shot out, burning soldiers to cinders and sending them into the air.

Bowser burped and patted his stomach. 'Booyah,' he grinned.

A loud boom made him flail about, followed by a deep rumbling that shook the world to its core and a flash of black lightning that hit the earth and extinguished the plant life when it hit. The world shifted and shimmered, and the Void groaned. 'Your Surliness!' Kamek cried, scrambling over to him, blasting himself through enemies. 'I think the world's becoming weaker!'

'Guh!' the Koopa King grunted. 'I'm tired of the world being destroyed! Why can't it just stay...undestroyed for once?!'

Kamek drew up a magical barrier around them as soldiers approached. He winced under the strain of keeping it up against the blades pounding against its surface. 'What...what if they don't do it?' he asked, the hope in him disappearing. 'We've gone through so much, but what if this is the time we actually _lose?_ What if the Mario Bros. crush them? What if the kid...?'

Bowser looked at his Magikoopa aide. This was one of the first times he had ever seen Kamek seriously lamenting anything.

It made him _angry._

'NO!' he roared, and Kamek was so startled the barrier disappeared. Bowser let loose a deep, rumbling battle cry to the heavens and blew out a torrent of flame, then brought all the soldiers down with his bare hands. 'YOU AREN'T GIVING UP! NOT IN MY ARMY!' He towered over Kamek, who was inching away on his hands and rear end. 'THAT'S HOW WE DO IT IN THE KOOPA CORPS! WE LAUNCH OUR ATTACK, WE FAIL, AND WE TRY AGAIN! BECAUSE WE! WILL! WIN!' He turned around and blew such a ferocious blast of fire at a group of soldiers they turned to armour and ashes. 'GEEZER!' he commanded, pointing at the castle. 'I WANT YOU TO GET ME OVER THERE RIGHT NOW!'

'Wh...what?!' Kamek sputtered. 'But...who'll lead the army?!'

'You! Now get me over there or I'll eat you for breakfast tomorrow!'

Kamek got up to his feet and cracked his back. 'Let's hope there'll be a tomorrow so we can eat breakfast...' he sighed, waving his wand.

*Chaos*

The dark king's hideous face was contorted in a pained horror that reached all the way into the deepest depths of his heart. His mismatched teeth were clenched and grinded against each other, both of his eyes were wide, the large one throbbing red with magic. His clawed fingers scraped against the metallic arms of his throne, gouging large marks in them. He was shaking, and out his mouth came choking sounds, as if he were trying to formulate a sentence but couldn't find even the first word to begin it with.

'D...Dimentio...?' Mimi asked nervously, shrinking under the crazed stare of the magician's dark side. He leaned forward in his throne and she stepped back, but he still didn't speak. 'Um...we've come to stop you.'

When the villain spoke, it was a low, chilling hiss that wriggled into their ears and sent shivers down their spines and back up again. 'So...it..._seems_.'

A rumble from the Void above the castle shook the glass windows of the throne room. 'Does...does it really have to be this way?' she asked. 'All this destruction?' The man didn't respond, only giving that same dismantling glare. 'You could...stop now, you know. You could end this.'

'And _why,_' he responded, 'would I want to do _that?_'

Mimi shifted and cleared her throat. 'To...to be with me?'

'_YOU?!_' Dark Dimentio suddenly screamed. His counterpart, hands behind his back, was preparing to use magic if necessary to defend her. '_YOU ARE A DISGUSTING__** WRETCH**__ OF A BEING! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WANT TO BE IN THE SAME __**DIMENSION**__ AS YOU?!_'

'Be...!' she squeaked in fear, but steeled her nerves. 'Because I...know you love me.'

'_ABOMINABLE SHREW!_' he bellowed, leaping out of his chair and flying straight at her. She shrieked and recoiled, and Dark Dimentio flew right into a dimensional barrier. Dark power crackled around it, trying to tear the barrier open. '_I'LL SEE MY WHOLE WORLD CRUMBLE TO ATOMS BEFORE I ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHT OF LOVING YOU!_'

'Mimi, are you okay?' Nastasia asked, tense. Her fingers were already on her glasses, though what amount of good her mind control could do against the godlike being nobody could say.

'Yeah, I...' she answered, shaking. 'I'm fine.' Everyone else's fear was reflected in their expressions, and the fact that Mimi could remain as collected as she was was a testament to her strength.

'_HOW DARE YOU MARCH INTO MY CASTLE?!_' the magician raved; tendrils of darkness had begun to creep inside of the barrier. '_HOW DARE YOU STROLL PAST MY DOORS AND TRY TO PLAY WITH MY HEART?!_' His red eye was practically overtaken by the glow, and his snarl was primal. '_I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF YOUR SHOULDERS AND MOUNT IT ON MY THRONE!_'

That was enough. Light Dimentio teleported in front of Mimi, who had stared defiantly at the enraged tyrant, and gave his counterpart a smile. 'My my, such a temper! You'd hardly even know it was Dimentio himself~' He plucked one of the tendrils out of Dark Dimento's aura and crushed it between his forefinger and thumb. It fizzled out, sparks of light destroying it. 'Enough of this embarrassment to our name. Why don't we get the formalities out of the way?'

Light Dimentio snapped his fingers and a trail of light swirled around his palm. He smacked it against the barrier, which flashed with the Purity Heart's energy and sent Dark Dimentio flying back through the air. The Chaos Heart's barrier, which had sprung up to protect him, shattered to pieces. He landed on his feet, the shock of the assault wiping away his rage. He stared at his clone, blank-faced. 'My barrier is gone...' he said quietly.

'Indeed,' the good magician replied. He spread his arms out. 'Well? Are you not pleased?' He gestured to everyone. 'It is the grandest of reunions! Your old family is here, and the Heroes of the Light Prognosticus as well!'

'Yes...' Dark Dimentio agreed, his voice full of threatening sarcasm. 'The greatest reunion I could ever hope for.' His eyes travelled back to Mimi, and a shadow passed over his face. 'And yet, you lack Light Fawful. Has he shunned our meeting?'

'He is busy taking care of his darker counterpart,' the jester responded. 'But I assure you he will be along shortly. There is no way he will lose.'

'Oh, I should hope so. It would be so disappointing if my favourite Beanish boy did not show up for the final confrontation.'

'He'll be here,' Rose said firmly. Others nodded.

There was a powerful pause as both Dimentios locked onto each other's gazes. 'So here we are,' the benevolent one sighed. 'Two identical beings, one rallying for the worlds' restoration, the other battling for their continued inexistence.'

'I would sooner erase myself than see the destruction of my perfect world. Do you not understand how precious this is to me?'

Light Dimentio nodded. 'Yes, I do understand. The desire is mine as well. However...' He looked around. 'This world is not perfect, and never was. No world brought about from the destruction of the others will ever be free of imperfection.'

Dark Dimentio set his face in a growl. 'You're wrong.'

'Whether I am right or wrong, it is might that will decide the fate of existence.' He reached up and took the mask off his face and, with a flourish of his hand and the sound of magic slicing through matter, tossed something to his evil self, who caught it. It was the white half of Rosabella's jester mask, set in a neutral expression. In his hand, the heroic magician held the black half. He put it on his face, and it went through a series of expressions before matching the one that his pale, exposed face had on the other side. 'I wonder...which side of the Charming Magician shall win out?' The mask mimicked his facial movements.

The villain waited thoughtfully for a moment, then put his mask-half on his face, leaving his large, glowing, red eye exposed. He stood up, his shadowy aura growing in intensity; it made a sound like a hushed whisper as it curled about his body. 'Imperfect fools,' he said. 'Your only fate is to rest in the Void's embrace, for all of time.' He raised his hand and the aura flared up, dark magic crackling around his body and making the hairs on the heroes' necks stand on end. Everyone took on a fighting stance, taking out their weapons. Light Dimentio floated up in the air and crossed one leg over the other. 'I'll blacken your souls to the core with my power!' he shouted. 'Even if this entire world crumbles around me, _your games end here!_'

'Ahahahahahaha!' Light Dimentio cackled with glee. 'Time for the most magnificent show the worlds will ever see!'

Dark Dimentio raised his hand and sent a blast of dark magic at them that rippled the dimensions around it; the entire party of ten leapt aside before it burst and sprung into combat. Light Dimentio headed the assault, flying at his dark doppelganger with light trailing from his palms and between his fingers. The two magicians met in mid-air, bringing their fists forward and striking each other with blows powered by the energy of the Hearts. The bursts of magic pulsed with an opposing force, sending them flying away from each other. Light Dimentio hit the ground with his feet, spinning his body and teleporting back in front of Dark Dimentio, who blocked the series of Purity Heart-powered blows with his own magic. The good magician hopped away and gathered light energy behind him in his hands, which was duplicated by his foe's dark energy. The magical projectiles hit each other and sent a powerful shockwave throughout the room and put deep cracks into the stained glass windows on the walls.

Mario and Luigi leaped over Light Dimentio, who gave Luigi a boost. 'I'll take you down again, Dimentio!' Luigi shot, brandishing his Ultra Hammer. He struck down with it and the king blocked it with his hands; he was knocked down to the ground, where Mario threw a flaming punch, striking him in the stomach. He cried out in pain, then swooped his arms up, knocking the red plumber back with a dark blast. Luigi came back down on his head feet-first, then turned in mid-air and delivered a powerful bolt of lightning to the magician. Dark Dimentio physically grabbed the bolt, which rippled as dark energy arced back through it and into Luigi's hand, exploding and sending him away from him.

Mario grabbed Luigi's hammer and took out his own, running at Dark Dimentio. Taking a leaf out of Luigi's book, fire blazed out his left hand and engulfed the hammer. He reached Dimentio and spun, turning into a whirlwind of golden steel and fire. The magician blocked the first blows, but was struck by the next; he was buffeted backwards, and Mario jumped and brought the hammers down upon him. Dark tendrils came out of his aura and wrapped around the hammer heads, extinguishing the fire around the left one and slamming the plumber on the ground. He wrenched the hammers out of his hands and then threw them back at him, hitting the man at the speed of cannonballs.

He jumped up in the air and a hail of Rubees were shot at him, which he teleported out of the way of. A look of rage spread across his face and he flew down to Mimi, who jumped back away from him. More Rubees encircled her, glinting menacingly. 'Dimentio...listen to me!' she pleaded. 'You can stop this right now!'

'_There is nothing that can be stopped!_' he yelled back. He compressed dark energy into a block of dimensional magic and threw it at her; she cried out and flew out of its way, and it blew a hole into the floor. The Rubees shot at him, whistling through the air. He avoided most, then drew up a barrier for the rest. He jumped up to give pursuit, but a blast of energy shot by Rose hit him in the back. He howled in rage and turned, summoning magic again, but more Rubees from Mimi made him teleport away. He grabbed her by the head and pulled her close. 'You think I _love_ you,' he whispered, irate. 'But I _loathe_ you. Aha. Ahahahaha.'

'Release her!' Blumiere shouted, and Dark Dimentio teleported again, leaving Mimi floating in the air alone. The prince swung and met the magician's blow with his sceptre, and the aura of the Void trailed off of both of them and mingled in the air.

'How ironic that you, of all people, would oppose me!' Dark Dimentio shouted. 'Why not embrace the power of the Void once more and tear it all asunder?!'

'The man known as Count Bleck is dead,' Blumiere said coldly, pushing against the king's strength. 'Now I am what is left.'

He blew Dimentio away with a magical blow, then flew at him at high speed, his sceptre forward. The former jester shielded himself from the attack, then created a blade made from the Chaos Heart's energy and struck back. They parried with their weapons, and Blumiere struck at Dark Dimentio's throat, who blocked it, then jumped up, compressed the weapon into a pinprick of darkness, and blasted the prince with it. The force was too much, and he flew down to the ground, smashing off of the floor, his sceptre clattering on the stone away from him.

Dark Dimentio descended, energy pulsating around him. His red, unmasked eye glowed almost entirely. 'How I wish you would stay dead, my half brother,' he hissed.

'The feeling is mutual,' Blumiere retorted.

'Aha. Only I shall get my wish!' He raised his hand.

A blast of bright energy exploded against his side and sent him cartwheeling. 'Get away from my husband you psychopath!' Timpani yelled in rage.

The dark king steadied himself, his eyes shooting blades at the woman. 'Pathetic woman! Leave my sight!' He shot dark magic at her and Blumiere leapt up and grabbed his sceptre, jumping in front of his wife. He waved his hands and the darkness swirled around them and back at Dark Dimentio, who teleported out of its path and in front of the former Tribe of Darkness heir. Dimentio stopped Blumiere's attack by enclosing him in a box of magic, then brought his palm forward and destroyed it with a burst of darkness. Blumiere stumbled back and Dimentio gathered the dark mist in his palm for another quick blow. Timpani shot him in the head with her blaster, then once more at his stomach. Despite his recoiling, he deflected the second blast back at her, which she ducked under. The magician spun to parry Blumiere's blow, then ripped the sceptre out of the man's hand and jabbed it through another projectile from Timpani and swung it back at Blumiere, the tip irradiating energy. It knocked the prince aside, then Dimentio turned to Timpani.

The woman shot blast after blast at the king, who redirected the bolts with swipes of his hand. 'A _weak_ human such as yourself has no business going up against a _god,_' he said. His dark aura had grown stronger, and was beginning to snuff out the blasts before he even had to react. 'I'll make you relive your death. Perhaps you'll enjoy another few minutes of agonizing life before you die of bloodloss out your waist!'

A hard, metal object hit Dark Dimentio between the eyes and his head jerked back; Timpani had thrown the blaster at him after the shots proved ineffective. 'Go right ahead then!' she seethed.

The magician brought his head back forward, a mark on his forehead, and his aura sizzled with anger. He roared and sent a magical assault at her, which exploded and sent a shower of black dust and stones everywhere.

When it cleared, Peach was standing in front of Timpani, her parasol protecting them. 'Are you okay?' she asked the woman. Timpani nodded, smiling, though shaken.

'Pernicious _women,_' the former jester snarled.

Timpani ran to safety, lacking a weapon now, and Peach ran at Dark Dimentio. 'Women can beat you just like men can!' she shot, blocking another attack with her parasol and then hitting him with it, still fresh with energy. He struck blows at her, and each one was weathered by the umbrella.

'What in the name of the worlds is that thing _made of?!_' he screamed.

'I don't know!' the princess responded, then closed it and rammed it into his eye.

He howled in agony, the parasol jutting out of his face, his eye gushing black blood. 'Holy crap,' Rose exclaimed, her mouth open. Dark Dimentio grabbed the parasol and wrenched it out of his eye socket. The Chaos Heart's energy immediately travelled through his body and into the eye, restoring it rapidly.

'GRAH GOOGLY!' belted a Scottish voice, and the sound of an expulsion of gas got everyone's attention. The dark magician turned and opened the umbrella, stained with black blood, blocking the human cannonball that was O'Chunks. He crashed into it, knocking Dimentio back. The king threw the parasol aside and punched at the burly man, who met Dimentio's fist with his own. The man's pure strength held its own against the force created by the magician's dark magic, and knocked the smaller man back. O'Chunks stepped forward and pounded Dark Dimentio's entire body with his fist; he skidded along the ground and threw a projectile of darkness at him, which O'Chunks ran right through, ignoring the blast of power. The man delivered a bone-breaking uppercut to the magician, knocking him into the air. Then Peach jumped up and threw her body into his knocking him back away. He hit the ground and then waved his arms, trapping the two individuals in explosive boxes of magic.

Another gun blast shattered his control, and therefore the boxes. He turned to see Nastasia holding the gun that Timpani had dropped. Dark Dimentio flew towards her and she tossed the gun aside, lowering her glasses; her eyes glowed with a shimmering red light. _'Stop,'_ she commanded.

Red spirals danced around Dark Dimentio and he lurched. Slowly, agonizingly, he advanced with murder in his eyes. 'You...won't...control..._me_...' he hissed.

_'Die.' _The king physically stumbled against the command, and his aura shifted in towards him, but he resisted. Nastasia sighed. 'Can everyone just get this over with?'

All ten of the combatants immediately converged on Dark Dimentio. He yelled and shattered the mind control bonds. '_I'll drag all of you to inexistence in chains!_' he roared.

Mario and Luigi both struck first, jumping up with their Ultra Hammers. Tendrils of darkness shot out of Dark Dimentio's aura and grabbed them both, slamming them together and swinging them at O'Chunks, who had jumped next; the three men soared away from the scene. Blumiere flew up, the Void's energy encircling his sceptre, and blasted Dimentio. The malevolent magician screamed and overpowered Blumiere's magic with sheer, overwhelming, dark force, throwing him away too. Rose and Timpani both shot at him with blasters, but were quickly swatted aside. Peach, her parasol in hand, jumped up and tried to slam into the king, but he froze her in the dimension and countered with a pulse of dark magic, making her join the rest of her allies.

'Anyone else?!' he shouted. Rubees sailed in his direction and he dodged them all.

Mimi floated down uneasily to the ground. 'Dimentio, pl...please stop this!' she begged. Her eyes pleaded with him harder than they ever had before. 'I...I know that you can, I know that you want to!'

The villain growled. 'Don't speak such _blasphemy._' He waved his hands and trapped her in a box. 'Not until you die.'

Mimi teleported out of the box and Light Dimentio transported right in front of his wicked counterpart. 'Now now, don't you know it's not polite to kill the love of your life?' Dark Dimentio tried to blow him away with magic, but he'd already teleported. When he reappeared, he did so with a host of illusionary clones, each of them speaking in tandem. 'Come now, you are me! And I love her. That means _you_ do too. Ahahahahahahahaha_hack!_'

Dark Dimentio grabbed Light Dimentio's throat, his darkness destroying the illusions. He held him close, his hand a vice grip. 'What we are...' he said quietly, 'are two opposite beings. And I will be the one to survive this battle!' The dark aura was suppressing the Purity Heart's energy exuding from Light Dimentio, and his lack of air made the power weaken even still. Rubees appeared and shot at Dark Dimentio, but they disintegrated in mid-air. Light Dimentio struggled for breath; Dark Dimentio grinned. 'Ciao, my other half.'

The doors to the room exploded. The stone gates broke apart, their debris flying through the air and smashing to the ground. A large rock collided with Dark Dimentio's head and Light Dimentio fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

'In the battle of finality of the battles of finality!' a voice cried from the entryway. 'When hope is being lost and your souls cry for saving like lost babies, the one who is coming to your rescue is one which was lost and is now here, and his voice rings with _fury!_'

Everyone's eyes darted to the archway to see a familiar green-skinned boy, his red cape blowing in the air and his blue eyes glowing with life. His clothes were immaculate save for his left sleeve, which was completely gone, ripped and blackened at the seam. From his shoulder down to the tips of his fingers, his entire left arm was a noticeable shade darker, green tinted with dark blue. 'No...' Dark Dimentio said, the word coming out in a guttural growl.

'The Beans of Light and Darkness are being no more! In their place is I!' The boy grinned, raising his darker hand and pointing at the blue-skinned magician. 'The one and only Fawful, come to have the destroying of you!'

Fawful

Standing in the entranceway, Fawful had never felt more alive than he did right now. His entire body trembled with an energy that bubbled against the surface, and a lightness was in his being that felt complete and whole.

Light Dimentio raised an eyebrow, looking directly at Fawful with wonder in his eyes. Memories were swirling around in the boy's head, entirely separate from one another: memories of travelling and fighting for his life against Dark Dimentio's constant onslaughts, and memories of commanding the troops and scheming for the usurpation of the evil king's throne and Chaos Heart. When his two halves had joined to one, all of their memories came into his mind. The most confusing memories by far were the ones where both Light and Dark Fawful confronted each other; it was absolutely disorienting to have two different memories of the exact same moment, not to mention two different emotional states attached to each one.

His arm had grown back too, albeit in Dark Fawful's skin tone. Part of him loved this, but the rest of him didn't care as much.

'You stubborn _child!_' the Dark Dimentio shouted. The magician, cloaked in a veil of shadowy energy, sent chills down Fawful's spine, but he didn't flinch. 'Why can you not just die?!' He raised his hand. 'I'll banish your new soul to the Void's dep—'

With a crash, a hole crumbled in the ceiling. 'RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!' a growling figure cried, and fell to the ground.

Dark Dimentio leaped out of the way. '_WHAT NOW?!_' he bellowed.

'Bowser?' Mario and Luigi both said, dumbfounded.

The giant Koopa got hastily to his feet. 'What's up?! I'm here to kick butt!'

A trembling silence came down on them all. Everyone looked at the two new arrivals, and then at Dark Dimentio; the man looked ready to pop a blood vessel in his brain. 'I...have had..._enough_...' he fumed, 'of this _idiocy!_'

'Well I've had enough of your ugly face!' Bowser roared, and threw himself into the fray.

'I am sharing the sentiments of the Bowser!' Fawful chimed in, powering up the rockets on his Headgear. 'Now is the time when our grudge will be settled!'

Dark Dimentio flew up into the air, the dark power so thick Fawful could feel it on his skin. Light Dimentio hopped to his feet and threw his hands up, hurling Bowser into the air before taking to the skies himself. The Koopa King overtook Fawful in an instant, slamming into their enemy and wrapping his fingers around his torso. They fell for a moment, then Dark Dimentio held them aloft. Tendrils came out of his aura and ripped the Koopa off of him, pulling his arms and legs apart. 'I wonder how much it will take to tear the Koopa King into pieces?' he sneered.

'Not enough!' Bowser shot back, then blasted the king with fire. He hollered and the tendrils released Bowser, making him fall to the ground.

Fawful swooped up around the man, joined by Light Dimentio. 'How about we make your machine more effective?' the jester said, then snapped his fingers at the Headgear; light energy zapped into the helmet, and its glass dome radiated with the Purity Heart's magic.

'Your Purity Heart cannot save you!' Dark Dimentio shouted, summoning magical energy.

'We will have the seeing of that!' Fawful flew over the dark blast that came their way, and soared at Dark Dimentio. The ruler of the world threw up his hands, creating a wall of darkness to protect himself. The Bean flew right into it, shooting a steady beam of Purity Heart energy that cleaved right through the mass and struck Dark Dimentio in the chest. He screamed in pain and flew erratically around the room, the dimensions warping around them; a glowing hole was burning itself into his chest that the Chaos Heart was slowly repairing, hindered by the pure energy.

Light Dimentio warped back into the battle, accompanied by a host of illusion copies. 'Your reliance on the Chaos Heart's power saddens me,' he sighed dramatically. 'The Pleaser of Crowds is but a mechanism of the Void now!'

'_I am a tool of no one!_' his dark self roared, creating clones of himself. The copies soared around the room, engaging themselves in combat.

Fawful blew apart a shadowy projectile that had almost hit Bowser, then blasted the copy of Dark Dimentio to pieces with his Headgear. 'Bowser!' he warned. 'They are not being illusions, they are being real!'

Bowser punched his fist into his palm. 'More stuff to clobber then!' Fawful latched his Headgear's mouth onto the Koopa's tail. 'H-hey, ow! What're you doing?!'

'I am being like an old enemy!' he responded with elation. He spun Bowser around and tossed him skyward at another dark clone, which he grabbed onto and disintegrated with fire before hopping onto the next one.

'Bwah hah hah! That's right, no one can match the Koopa King!' he taunted, then bit down on its head, which turned to mist. '_BLEGH THAT'S DISGUSTING!_' Bowser fell slowly down on the copy's body, spitting and trying to get the taste off his tongue.

Fawful flew through the sparkling remains of one of Light Dimentio's clones and right into the real Dark Dimentio; his Headgear's throat shimmered with energy. 'It is time to have the destroying of you!' he yelled.

Dark Dimentio's aura shifted and stuffed itself down the Headgear's throat. The Purity Heart's energy travelled into the aura and exploded, throwing both combatants away. The king spun in mid-air and struck at his light half, his palm in shadows. Light Dimentio blocked it with a shield of opposite power, then threw his own hand forward and broke through the shield Dark Dimentio created in response, making him fly backwards. 'Ahahaha! The Chaos Heart's power is no match for the Purity Heart's!' the benevolent magician laughed. 'Just as your hatred cannot quell your true emotions.'

'You know nothing of my true emotions!' Dark Dimentio spat back.

A Rubee imbedded itself in his back and he lurched, then spun around and destroyed the next few that came. Mimi walked towards him carefully, the large gems hovering around her. 'Yes, he does,' she said. 'And I do too.'

'I have had enough of you toying with me!' The magician threw magic at her, which she flew over with a cry. The Rubees around her sailed at him, one after the other, but all were dodged or destroyed. A shield from Light Dimentio protected her from the next attack, and then the jester hopped up and delivered a blast of his own. Dark Dimentio teleported away and showered dark projectiles down on them from all directions. Mimi jerkily weaved and avoided the blasts and Light Dimentio made them vanish with his magic.

'Don't worry,' he said to the girl. 'I'll protect you.' Mimi nodded.

Dark Dimentio reappeared. 'If I can kill just one of you tonight, it will be you!' he screamed at the shapeshifter. His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were wild with madness. 'I'll destroy all of you! Every speck that exists within every heart!'

He flew through the air and Light Dimentio started, bringing up a barrier. The dark force cracked and shattered it, blowing him back. Dark Dimentio jumped above him and blasted at Mimi. The good magician put his hands behind his back and flicked his hands upward. 'Up you go!' he said, and the girl shot into the air. More Rubees appeared and shot at the villain at the speed of bullets; two missed, one was blocked, the other grazed his cheek. Black blood dripped from the small wound.

Mimi suddenly set her face in a scowl. 'I am so tired of you!' she yelled, then kicked off of something unseen and went flying at him, her fist forward. Dark Dimentio prepared to retaliate, but Light Dimentio snapped his fingers and a pulse of light threw him off. Mimi punched him in the face and he fell back in the air, recoiling from the blow. 'Hah! That's for killing me!' she spat.

'Oh no...' Rose whispered, her red eyes wide.

Dark Dimentio's exposed eye was murderous. He threw his hands forward and unleashed the most powerful blast he could give directly at the floating girl. Light Dimentio flew up and brought up a barrier again; the darkness exploded and ripped the shield apart, and the jester was tossed across the room and into a wall, falling to the ground. Mimi dropped down to the ground, backing up with a terrified look on her face. The dark magician went down to the ground and advanced on her.

More Rubees materialized around her and flew at Dark Dimentio, who knocked them aside and caught one in his hand, crushing it. '_I'll make you rue the day you took root in my heart!_' he shouted, and threw another magical attack at her. A wall of Rubees sprung up to protect her; the attack hit them and blew them to shards in the air. Mimi stumbled back, knocked by the force. Dimentio waved his hands and the shards swirled around, then collected into a large Rubee, sharpened to a point. '_**Die you monstrous girl!**_' He shot the bladed jewel at her and she flew above it quickly. Then a _ping!_ sounded and the Rubee reappeared before her.

She barely got a sound out before it stabbed right through her chest and pinned her to the wall.

Everyone froze in horror; Fawful's heart stopped and he felt like a hammer had slammed against his chest. 'Mimi!' he cried. Every hero in the room voiced their shock. An intense ripple of emotion went through Dark Dimentio and he stared at her and her fatal wound, his face paralyzed.

'No!' Rose yelled, throwing the blaster to the ground and running across the room, right past Dark Dimentio, and up to the green girl. The king stared at Mimi, his arms hanging at his sides, eyes wide, shivering. Red blood had begun to flow from behind the Rubee, which had imbedded itself into the stone wall.

Tears were flowing down her face as she hung there, staring at Rose. A small, sad smile crossed her lips and she began to laugh softly. 'Ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha...I knew...it would be me...'

Her body shimmered, losing its form, an illusion blinking away. It vanished completely, and now the girl stuck to the wall had white skin and hair.

'Wh...what...?' Dark Dimentio said as if he'd been struck.

The Rose standing on the ground shimmered too, and when the illusion had disappeared it was Mimi standing in place instead. Fawful had a brief moment of relief as he understood that Mimi was safe, which then turned right back to terror when he realized that it meant Rose was the one dying. 'I'm sorry this had to happen Rose...' the green girl whispered.

'Ha...it's okay...nothing would have changed...'

Anger welled up inside of the Bean. 'You!' he yelled, looking sidelong at Light Dimentio. A grim look was on his face. 'What is the meaning of this?!'

'We...' he responded, struggling to find the words. 'We had to preserve Mimi as much as we could, because of her significance.'

'So you used her as bait?!' Mario exclaimed, balling his fists. 'She's just a human girl!'

The jester shook his head. Dark Dimentio was staring in shock at the girl on the wall. 'You don't understand. Mimi was created from Rose's dead body. Their bodies, their DNA, the imprint of who they are...it's exactly the same. However, the souls are completely different. Such a thing does not bode well for either of them.' He gave a firm look. 'No matter what, one of them had to die. The multiverse had to eliminate at least one of them. Even if I had done not set up the illusion, Rose still would have died here.' Fawful was mortified, and couldn't shake the feeling they had all been tricked.

The girl's head was tilted and she was sobbing. 'It hurts...' she breathed.

Mimi reached up and grabbed her hand. 'It's okay...remember what I told you.'

'You said there'd...be an Overthere to go back to...'

The shapeshifter nodded. 'There will be. I promise.'

Rose sighed a weak sigh, smiling. 'I guess...it's okay then...' She closed her eyes. 'Don't...forget me...'

'I won't. I swear on my life.'

There was a moment of heavy pause. Then, Mimi let go of Rose's hand; it drooped down to her side and she moved no more. As Fawful looked at her, he could see a faint, mist-like substance exude from her mouth as her spirit escaped her body.

Another scream from Dark Dimentio brought them out of their shock. A wave of dark power rolled towards Mimi and she immediately flipped out of the way; the energy engulfed Rose's spirit, turning it pitch black. It shuddered for a moment, then let loose a high-pitched screeching noise that pierced their ears before vanishing into the Void, unable to be revived. Their enemy raced at Mimi, bloodlust in his eyes. '_**HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME?!**_' His voice was insane and permeated with turmoil. The girl leaped up in the air, summoning Rubees that spun around her body. Dark Dimentio began to fly up to give chase. '_**YOU WON'T ESCAPE FROM ME!**_'

A deep, powerful roar split the air and overdid the king's rage-filled voice. Bowser, with help from Light Dimentio, flew up into the air and lifted his fists, positioned above the man. 'YOU UNDERWHERE-SPAWN!' he bellowed, his voice reverberating with ire. 'I'LL POUND YOU INTO GOO!'

Dark Dimentio started as he flew, so concentrated on Mimi he had thought of little else. 'Wh—' he started to say. Then Bowser brought his scaly fists down on his head, shaking his body and making him fall fast at the ground.

He crashed against the rock floor, coughing and trying to struggle to his feet. O'Chunks gave a war cry filled with the same anger and revulsion as Bowser and ran at the magician. 'This is me one last gift to yeh!' he spat, putting all his motion into a powerful uppercut to Dark Dimentio's stomach.

The king was back in the air. 'N-_no!_' he hacked, his voice gone.

Princess Peach was the next one, jumping into the air and floating to him with her own brand of magic. 'The Heroes will always make you pay, Dimentio!' she said defiantly. 'Ha-CHA!' She slammed into him and he crashed into a wall.

He fell to the ground while desperately trying to get away. He floated along the ground, weak, being battered faster than the Chaos Heart could heal him. Timpani went up to him. 'No matter how many times you try to destroy the worlds,' she said, 'you'll be stopped by us!' She took Fawful's blaster and, as he was standing up, struck him in the chest with it, pulling the trigger as she did and strengthening the blow with a blast of energy.

Luigi hopped over the woman and, brandishing his Ultra Hammer, dashed with great speed to the king. 'This is for that girl!' he yelled, electricity sparking along the weapon. He winded himself up and jumped, smashing Dimentio up with a corkscrew of hammer blows. He grabbed Nastasia's hand and tossed her up. 'Do what we do!' he told her.

The secretary flew above the magician and her eyes glinted with cold rage. 'I've always wanted to do this,' she said, her voice hard, and brought her feet down on his head; her shoes cracked against his skull and he flew back down towards the ground.

Mario jumped up and punched Dimentio forward, landing back on the ground and running up to meet him. His fist blazed with a hot fire that matched the intensity in his face. 'The worlds have no place for devils like you!' he roared. 'For the first time, I'll be glad to see you die, Dark Dimentio!' He pounded the dark man's body with punches bursting with strength, ending in an uppercut with power rivalling O'Chunks'.

Dark Dimentio's body was being destroyed beyond repair. Burned, bruised, and broken, he could only take the assault in panic. Blumiere flew up to meet him in the air, his sceptre surrounded by swirling dark energy. 'This is for what you did to Timpani before,' he growled, his voice low and carrying a hint of sadism. He drove the sceptre through the man's chest and the Void's power ravaged his body, blasting him away. He would have screamed, but he was too beaten to accomplish the task.

It was Fawful's turn. He blasted off with his rockets, the Purity Heart's energy gathering in his Headgear's mouth. He grabbed Dark Dimentio by the collar and stared into the man's eyes, every ounce of the fury he felt contained within his own. 'This is being for the pain you have been causing to all!' he shouted, and released the blast of light. It seared over his body and ate slowly through his skin, the Chaos Heart's power no match for the Purity Heart's.

The king hit the ground, panting and groaning in pain. 'N...no, I can't...' he said, struggling to talk. Light Dimentio landed in front of him. 'This,' he said, his voice carrying the bottomless guilt he carried, 'is for all of the worlds that we destroyed together.' He snapped his fingers and a pillar of light erupted up under the man's body and threw him up into the air, sizzling as it contacted his body. He seemed to hang in the air for a moment, and it seemed like his endless torture was over.

Then, a massive collection of Rubees appeared around him at every angle, each aimed at him like knives. Mimi was floating in the air before him, looking at him with pity in her eyes. 'This...' she said quietly. 'This is for me.'

All of the Rubees converged on Dark Dimentio and punctured his body; a pained gasp escaped his mouth. When he fell to the ground, no one stepped forward to fight. Everyone simply approached the bleeding mass on the ground, Rubees sticking out at every angle. Mimi and Light Dimentio approached his front. The two Dimentios looked at each other, Light through pitying eyes, and Dark through weak ones.

'Such is the end of this world's king,' Light Dimentio said. Dark Dimentio didn't respond. 'In the end, light triumphs over darkness, as it did before.' He reached into his counterpart's person and took out the Dark Prognosticus, which the dark magician had kept close to him. 'And now both books are in our possession. They shall be destroyed as soon as possible.' The world rumbled and shifted; it was falling apart.

Fawful walked up to them. 'Nowing what?' he asked.

Light Dimentio tapped Fawful's darker left arm, which got the message across. He knelt down to his dark half. 'You know,' he said, 'I am drawn to you. My soul wants to be with yours. I know you feel the same.' The man shifted, conveying his protest. 'I understand that you, on the surface, desperately wish it were not so, but I know it is.'

'Dimentio...Dark Dimentio,' Mimi said, sitting down next to him. 'It's over. You can stop fighting. Your world's crumbling down. We beat you.' She sighed. 'When you...killed Rose with that Rubee, I...I saw your eyes. Your face. You thought you killed me, and for a second...you were scared. You weren't sure if what you did was the right thing. You doubted yourself, because you're in love with me.' She reached over and put a hand on his head. 'And even though you're Dimentio's dark half, you're still Dimentio. You're a part of him that's important. We all have dark parts of ourselves which are with the light parts. You're just all dark.' She looked into his eye, which had begun to dim. 'No matter what has ever happened, I love Dimentio. And that means I love you too.'

Tears were falling from his eyes. 'L...love...' he whispered. 'Aha...ha...ha...' He grimaced and howled. '_LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!_' A smile was across his face that was not the least bit happy. 'That...imperfect emotion...' His voice was coming out in laboured breaths.

'It's not imperfect,' the shapeshifter replied simply. 'And I know you know it isn't.' She leaned over him and looked deeper into his eye. 'Look closely. What do you see?'

Dark Dimentio's expression softened, and it was like he had finally let go of a massive weight he had been struggling to carry with him for his entire existence. 'I see..._you._'

Light Dimentio stood up. 'Oh, my dark brother,' he said, his voice sombre. 'Such blackened and stained souls we have.' He extended his hand. 'Come. Let us cleanse them together.'

The dark magician stared at the hand for a moment; his expression had glazed over, as if guided by something other than himself. 'Mm...' he murmured. 'Together...' He slowly, painfully, lifted his hand. Trails of light weaved through their fingers, and they clasped each other's hands. The light slowly built up in intensity, enveloping their bodies.

Light Dimentio took one last look at the shapeshifter. He was smiling widely. 'Mimi,' he said to her. 'It has been nice getting some fresh air. You are the most incredible person I have met in all these dimensions. Thank you.' Mimi smiled.

They vanished in the light, their bodies disappearing, shifting and joining. Then the light moved in on itself and burst into a wave of energy.

A scream of pain came from within the light and a figure blasted up into the air, dark and light energy peeling off of its body. With two flashes of white and black light, the Purity Heart and the Chaos Heart burst out of the figure's body, floating down above the spectators.

The figure fell slowly down and rested on the floor, breathing with weariness. He was dressed not in the kingly garb of Dark Dimentio, but the familiar jester attire of the benevolent magician. The two halves of his mask were on his face, a crack down the middle. Slowly, they fell off his face, revealing it to be as it was before the split: dark blue like Blumiere's and Nastasia's, and free of deformations. His one eye, once red, had returned to its bright yellow state. Everyone stood, tense, looking at the now-whole Dimentio lying on the ground.

_'A king falls,'_ a voice said to them all, and they looked around hectically. Only Fawful, who knew the voice well, looked to the source: the Chaos Heart. _'Just as I had intended.'_

Dimentio tilted his head up. 'You intended...?!'

Fawful kept staring at the Chaos Heart. 'Yesing. The Chaos Heart had partnership with the Fawful of Darkness.'

_'A plot to free me from my servitude to a snivelling wretch,'_ the Heart confirmed. _'I used Dark Fawful to ensure the Purity Heart's unveiling. Now the bonds between me and the fool have been broken.'_ Everyone was looking at the Chaos Heart now. _'And now, it is time for my proposition.'_

Everyone started looking at Fawful. 'What's he talking about...?' Mario asked suspiciously.

_'Fawful. Become my master. Take hold of my power and become the most powerful being in all of existence. With that power, do as your heart desires.'_

A ripple of discontent passed through the group, but no one reacted. All eyes were on Fawful. This was his choice. The time he had spent in the Void that his soul had created, led by the Chaos Heart, stretched out before him. Alongside himself, he could see all of the different versions of him that had appeared in the ocean, transforming into people he knew. He could see the doors, each one containing a possible future, and only one being true.

It all boiled down to him now. The future was in his hands. Take the Chaos Heart and rein as a lord? Or destroy it with the Purity Heart, and return all worlds to the way they had once been? Light Fawful and Dark Fawful wouldn't have even thought twice before choosing, but to him, right now, both of them tugged at him, desperately begging to be chosen.

_In all your life, has any one decision been your own?_

_For how long have you been a puppet of others?_

_What do you want for the future, Fawful?_

He had to choose. Not for anyone else. Not for Cackletta. Not for Mario. Not for Mimi. For him. What did he want? He looked inside of himself: what was going to be the first real decision he ever made?

The answer, he found, came easily.

'I am thinking...' he said slowly. 'I am thinking that you have had the overstaying of your welcome.' He lifted his hand and the Purity Heart floated down to it. 'Heart of Chaos! Disappear from the worlds and have existence no more!' He flung his hand forward and the Purity Heart flew towards its kin, glowing with a powerful light.

_'Such a pity,'_ the Chaos Heart sighed. _'I had thought you would be more entertaining.' _A pulse went through the room and a shockwave of energy struck the Purity Heart and blasted it away.

'_**WHAT?!**_' everyone screamed. Fawful's entire body revolted in disbelief.

The Chaos Heart began to shape and form, shrinking. _'Your good jester made a grave mistake,'_ it droned. _'In creating me, he blessed me with a mind. A heart. A soul.'_ Energy was swirling around the Heart, seeping into it. _'I have desires of my own, and I shall not idly stand and have them destroyed!'_

The Chaos Heart gave off a pulse of power and a leg came out of the body it had created. Then another leg, then the arms. He planted its feet on the ground, struggling as its neck bulged. Fawful recognized the shape from his brief time as a wandering spirit and realized that their efforts had been futile.

The head of the Chaos Heart burst out of its top and let loose the most chilling, agonizing scream that Fawful had ever heard. Everyone in the room recoiled, clutching their ears. The Chaos Heart laughed a laugh the Bean had never heard it make; it was a demonic, gleeful, sadistic screeching that stabbed his eardrums and filled him with more fear than Dimentio ever had.

It stood before them, panting, shadowy matter curling around it. 'In my time lying dormant,' it said, still chuckling, 'I created a body out of Dimentio's DNA.' It pointed at Fawful. 'Your memories supplied the idea. The Dark Star was my inspiration.' It spread its arms apart.

'What do you even want?!' Luigi demanded.

'_**HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA!**_' it laughed again, and everyone grit their teeth. 'The Void calls to me, _Destroy! Destroy!_ It yearns for the destruction of all things, and it is destruction which I shall deliver!' It slouched, not taking its eyes off all of them. 'I will tear this world apart and, in time, create a new one. When I tire of that, I will destroy it as well. Existence will become an endless cycle of creation and destruction, of pure and immaculate chaos!' It then looked to the castle's ceiling. 'But it shall begin with the destruction of this world! _Void! Tear this world asunder!_'

A blast of energy erupted from the Heart and blew the entire castle apart. Stone cracked and flew off into the distance, furniture and tapestries took to the skies in disintegrating splendour. A cyclone of dark power whipped them up in the air and they floated upwards, slowly, towards the Void. What was once a fortress had become a spiralling monument to the Chaos Heart's power. The Void expanded and destroyed the Purity Heart's bonds, ripping into the dimensional fabric and pulling the world into its depths.

Fawful grabbed the Light Prognosticus while Blumiere took the Dark one. The Bean put his will out to the Purity Heart and it floated across the room and into the tomb's pages. A rumble and crack over their heads sounded and a bolt of black lightning struck the ground at their feet. A deep gash of swirling blackness was torn into the ground, expanding and threatening to swallow them whole. The Chaos Heart was gone, up into the mouth of the Void.

'We've gotta get outta 'ere!' O'Chunks cried. 'Where're we gonna go?!'

'There is being another temple behind the castle of this!' Fawful yelled back, his Dark half's memories supplying the solution. 'We must have the fleeing to there!'

'Let's-a go!' Mario shouted. Everyone began to run.

'No!' Mimi protested, pointing at Dimentio. 'Bring him with you!'

'Why would we wanna bring that bozo?!' Bowser growled.

'_JUST BRING HIM OR I'LL MAKE YOU ALL PAY!_'

Bowser scooped the jester up without a second thought. 'Ack!' he yelled, mortified. 'Let go of me!'

'Quit your whining, we're saving your butt!' the Koopa spat back.

The party of eleven ran as one past the boundaries of the destroyed castle, attempting to avoid Dark Dimentio's citizens, who stared blankly up at the Void that was growing and ripping their dimension to pieces. Dimentio, on Bowser's shoulder, stared up at the expanding black hole, dread and fear on his face. 'My...my world...' he breathed.

'Now you know how we feel,' Timpani told him. He fell silent.

Cracks in the dimension were appearing with great frequency, and they had to avoid a number of them on their dash across the courtyard. 'How far away is this thing?!' Nastasia called to Fawful.

'It should have closeness now!' he answered. He continued running for his life.

Suddenly he ran into someone, the body hitting his and knocking them both over. 'Fawful!' Mimi yelled.

'I am coming!' he said. 'I am...'

He froze. His heart was pounding; the girl lying on the ground, her yellow eyes looking at him with disinterest, was someone he knew. Someone who he had met in this world alone, and who, despite everything, had made an impression on him.

It was Danni.

'Danni!' he exclaimed, getting to his feet. 'The world is having destruction! Come with us!'

'Fawful, what are you doing?!' Blumiere shouted desperately. 'Leave her!'

'Please!' he begged, but she wouldn't move. 'You must have the—'

A crack ripped open the ground and she slipped; her body tumbled over the edge. Fawful cried out and lunged, grabbing her hand before she fell into the Void, grabbing the grass with his other hand. 'Danni! I will have the pulling up of you! Just have waiting! Just...'

He stopped, staring at the girl's face. It had once held a youthful and oblivious energy, a joy at life and a curiosity in all things that, even though she was one of Dimentio's creations, made Fawful pleased somehow. It had comforted him to know that in the midst of all this chaos, there were people like her who could live without a care. Now, that face was devoid of everything. All emotion had been wiped clean, and though her eyes were bright yellow in colour, their depths were dull and grey, lacking the life they had once contained. She stared up at him, feeling nothing, seeing nothing. Her existence was in peril, and she didn't care because she had no capacity to.

_You talk funny. And why is your skin green?_

_Tell me I'm awesome._

She dangled limply in his grip, and Fawful realized that she wasn't truly alive. She was no more than a doll, and, in reality, never had been anything else.

He sighed, sadness in his chest. 'Goodbye, Danni...' he whispered to her.

He let go, and the emotionless girl dropped into the Void without an expression, gesture, or sound. Fawful stared until he could not see her any longer.

Dimentio

They ran until the temple was in view, and wrenched open the doors to the dark interior. They ran into the entranceway, panting. Bowser threw Dimentio onto the ground haphazardly. 'Shut the doors!' Mario told them hastily.

Bowser and O'Chunks ran over to the doors, then stopped. 'What's going on?' the red plumber demanded.

'Dimentio.'

The voice threw the jester into full awareness; he jerked his head up. 'That...' he breathed. A sense of fear had taken hold of him, but also excitement. 'I know that voice!' He got to his feet and ran over to the doorway. Standing outside the temple, while the world was breaking apart, were two women: Rosabella, and a woman he knew all too well.

'Hello Dimentio,' the woman said.

'M...' His voice was quiet. 'Mother...'

'My son.'

Nobody knew what to say.

'You're...you're cured!' he exclaimed, and suddenly he felt happy. A smile spread across his face. 'Your disease is gone!' She nodded. 'Come! Come in with me! Come to safety!' The woman stood where she was, shaking her head. Rosabella had the saddest look on her face, and stayed at her side. '...mother. Come into the temple. Mother! _Raphaella!_'

'Look at what you've done!' the woman screamed at him suddenly, anger in her eyes. The shout hit him like a hammer and his eyes widened. She gestured around and behind her. 'Look at all of this! Look at this death! Look at this carnage!'

'M...mother, no...' He suddenly felt like he wasn't in his own body. His smile had disappeared.

'So many people have died I'm not sure there is a system that can count it!' she continued to rave. 'And all of it is on _your_ head!' Tears had begun to stream down her face. 'I have not seen you for thousands of years! Those horrid caretakers in that world, they kept me alive, beyond any definition of sanity, for so long! And you would come, and we would talk, but I would not hear! And now I know that all that time you spent with me, you spent plotting the deaths of everyone who ever lived?!'

His heart was withering in his chest. 'No!' he yelled. 'No, don't do this to me! _You can't do this to me!_' He ran to her, but Bowser and O'Chunks both grabbed him. 'Let go of me you blithering imbeciles! _Mother!_'

Raphaella was openly weeping now. 'I loved you so much. You were my son. But now...now you're an unrecognizable demon from the deepest depths of the Underwhere! You aren't my son! I don't even know who you are!'

'_STOP THIS NOW!_' he cried. '_PLEASE! I NEED YOU! I LOVE YOU!_' The one person he still cared for even when the Chaos Heart had closed off his heart. His mother. Why wouldn't she come?

She shook her head. 'I'll stay and be destroyed with this world. Look at me. Don't run. Don't hide. Face it. This is the pain that you have caused to everything that existed.' She gave a shuddering sigh. 'Goodbye.'

Dimentio screamed the entire time as Rosabella and Raphaella parted, shutting the doors tightly. '_NO! THEY'LL BE DESTROYED! YOU HAVE TO RELEASE ME! YOU HAVE TO LET—_'

A powerful sound travelled through the doors, a rumbling and crashing, the sound of a dimension ceasing to exist. When it stopped, it felt like his heart had fallen to the ground from the edge of a cliff, and was lying there, bleeding out. Now it was just him and his rescuers, floating in the Void, alone.

Bowser and O'Chunks let go of him and he slumped, dropping to his knees. He was shaking, his face was held to the floor, his hands were gripping his head. He had lost his world. He had lost his mother. Suddenly, with unbelievable clarity, he understood the pain he had caused an endless number of people over his lifespan. The sheer numbers, the grief, the endless stream of displaced souls clamoured all around him, burying him under a mass of infinite weight that bore down upon him and threatened to crush his entire being to death.

He screamed at everything, a victim of his own ambition and hubris.


	38. Chapter 38: Descent into Darkness

Chapter 38: Descent into Darkness

Dimentio

The temple was just as dark and sinister as he remembered. The twelve of them walked tentatively around the room with Fawful at their front; his Headgear lit up the room, casting a dim light on the walls. The mist enshrouded the temple's depths, pressing in on the jester's body and moving into his lungs; it seemed to add weight to him with every gasp of breath. The black stone the temple was made of made every footstep and puff of air echo all around them, and they all kept quiet for fear of disturbing some unknown evil. The endless drone of the Void penetrated the walls and added an extra layer of fear onto the building that felt like it was going to shrink and squish them like bugs.

'I don't like what's drawn on the walls...' Mimi whispered. The depictions of death and destruction covered every surface of the room.

'Well we've got the killer with us now,' Mario reminded them. 'I'd say there's not much more to be afraid of.'

_'Monster...' _a voice whispered in his ear.

'No...' Everyone looked at him. When he said nothing, they returned their attention to the room itself.

'Is there a way to go down?' Luigi asked.

Dimentio walked over to one of the pillars and placed his hand onto it. 'This one is hollow,' he said. 'I was in here before.' He sent magical energy into the stone and it crumbled. Then he placed his fingers on the heart engraving on the tablet and allowed dark magic to flow into it. The floor in the middle of the room crumbled. 'We must descend.'

'It is being like the temple before,' Fawful noted. 'It is having many floors which must have defeat. We are either defeating enemies or solving puzzles.'

'What was at the bottom of the other temple?' the magician asked.

'It was being a jewel that released the energy of the Heart of Purity.'

'This won't be the same,' Nastasia said. 'We'll see what's at the bottom when we get there.'

They all began to walk down the staircase.

_'Demonic scum...'_

'Stop...' he breathed, feeling dizzy. He held his head with his hands and steadied himself with a hand on the wall of the staircase's pillar.

Mimi looked back at him as they walked down. He couldn't see her face, but he knew it would be one of concern. She turned back without a word and continued to go down.

The next room was the first floor, which required a simple pulse of magic to the tablet inscribed with the warning he remembered: _"This is the first floor. Many more await you."_ Next would be the enemies.

They descended once more. 'If you were here before,' Timpani whispered to him, 'what should we expect?'

'Monsters,' he responded.

'Pretty normal then.'

They emerged into the third floor. 'Be careful,' he warned. 'There should...' He wavered a bit, his mind dazed by the mist. It was like sucking in laughing gas with each inhalation. 'There should be enemies nearby.'

On cue, a large monster barrelled out of the shadows and everyone jumped away. Dimentio flew quickly away, snapping his fingers and illuminating the entire room for a brief instant. Another creature was stalking them. Mario and Luigi ran towards it, then jumped in the air as a duo. The thing punched Luigi away, but Mario managed to dodge it in mid-air and jump on its head. The thing growled and swung its fist again, smashing the red brother away.

'Hey!' Bowser roared. 'Nobody punches those losers but me!' He ran at the thing and threw a punch of his own, which the creature blocked with its arm. It stomped on Bowser's body and the Koopa groaned in pain as he was being crushed beneath its foot. Dimentio put as much power as he could into one block of dimensional magic, then threw it at its head; it ate the projectile, which exploded in the back of its mouth and knocked it back and off of Bowser. Dimentio flicked his wrist and made Bowser slide along the floor away from it.

A cry of pain from Fawful made him turn to look, and the Bean flew through the air and into a wall, his Headgear's light flickering. O'Chunks was struggling to hold the first beast at bay, which was attempting to crush his body with its foot. Rubees were sticking out of its body, and more joined it as Mimi tried to puncture it to death to no avail. Timpani blasted it with her gun and the thing didn't even flinch.

Blumiere jumped up into the air, his sceptre surrounded by dark magic. 'Stand back, I'll destroy it!' he shouted.

Panic shot through Dimentio. 'Don't!' he cried, but the man had already shot at the monster. The dark energy seeped into its pores and it grew. 'You idiot!' The creature growled deep in its throat and spat out a torrent of black liquid; everyone scattered and it splattered onto the floor and walls, hissing and steaming.

Fawful ran up next to him. 'You!' he shouted. 'What is the meaning of these monsters?!'

'They are resistant to the Dark Prognosticus' and Chaos Heart's magic,' he answered, then teleported them both out of the way of the second monster and hit it with another dimensional block that exploded into fire. 'These are far more powerful than the monsters you fought before.'

'Well if they are having resistance to the Heart of Chaos, then we will use its opposite!' He took out the Light Prognosticus and opened it; the Purity Heart came out, shining brightly and casting a light that far outdid his lamp. 'Heart of Purity, give us power!' he told it. It dispersed into light that went into all of them, making them glow with its energy. As it went into Dimentio, he felt strange; the energy was mixing with the Chaos Heart's that he still carried with him. He shuddered.

The monster ran at them and he and Fawful put out their hands. _The Purity Heart's energy is love,_ he reminded himself. _I must think of what I love. _He closed his eyes and forced the energy to his palm; it burst out in a brilliant flash of light, blowing the monster across the room and making it disintegrate and merge with the mist throughout the chamber.

He stared at his palm, wide-eyed. 'Oh my,' he said, shocked. 'That...'

'It is having much more ease,' the Bean said, grinning at him.

They looked at the others' efforts on the first monster. Peach was thrown up and stomped on the monster's head, and the impact left a trail of light exuding from the point of collision. Nastasia lowered her glasses and spiralling golden energy surrounded it, ripping into its body. It fell apart, and the woman made an impressed face. 'Wow,' she said. 'I didn't even need to say anything.'

'This is the power of the Purity Heart...' Dimentio whispered to himself. A feeling had settled into him, and one that he didn't like. He suddenly understood what he had been up against, and while winning hadn't been impossible, he knew why it was that he had lost.

'That's why love's important, Dimentio!' Timpani said cheerfully. 'It beats your Chaos Heart any day.' The magician sighed.

All the monsters had been defeated, and the floor crumbled, revealing another staircase. Everyone immediately began to go down it. Dimentio made his way towards the steps, looking at his palm; it was glowing with light.

_'Murderer...'_ A voice hissed in his ear. He clenched his fist and quickened his pace.

The temple was far deeper than he could have imagined, and filled with ever-stronger enemies that thirsted more and more for their lives. Every floor was more difficult than the last, but they somehow managed to survive each one. Dimentio was most thankful for the floors that merely contained puzzles that had to be solved, as it offered a moment of respite while the more intelligent and mentally-sound of the group pulled some mental weight.

That was where they were now. Fawful and Mario were walking around the room, which was larger than most and filled with contraptions. Other people were attempting to help out when they could, but these sorts of things were beyond most of them. Mario was a seasoned veteran at puzzles, and Fawful was one of the most intelligent and resourceful people they had. Dimentio himself would have helped as well, were his mind not muddled.

He sat a ways away from everyone, his back against a wall, his head in his hands. He was completely overwhelmed by his own mind. Since the merging of his Light and Dark halves, his brain had been a powerful whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and memories, and it was driving him even more insane than he surely was at this point. Who had his people been? Were they the white- or blue-skinned citizens? Had they ever been real at all? What about his world? Was it perfect or imperfect?

His memories were clashing. The ones Light Dimentio had experienced were tied with a powerful feeling of disgust and self-loathing, and a large part of the magician was glad that the world had been torn apart, erasing his stain on existence. On the other hand, Dark Dimentio's fanatical obsession with perfection remained, and his throat was constricted as he was suppressing unthinkable humiliation, rage, and horror.

The memories themselves didn't make any sense to him. Sometimes he was in one place, but also in another place at the same time. Sometimes he was in one place from two different perspectives, looking into his own face with pity or with hatred. His mind's eye was split in two, and he felt cluttered and confused. His head was pounding.

'Oh woe...' he whispered, moving a hand to his head. 'What do I want? What _am_ I?' He groaned, rubbing his temples. He couldn't sort himself out.

There was one thing that was a constant, though. Even amid the swirling concoction of warring memories and emotions, there was one single thing that was completely, indisputably true.

'Hey Dimentio.'

He looked up. 'Ah, Mimi...' He was suddenly unsure as to what was appropriate to say. '...salutations? Ahaha...'

She sat down beside him. 'How're you doing?' He hesitated. 'I know you don't want to talk about yourself, but...' She spread her arms. 'We're in the middle of the Void, on our way to battle the Chaos Heart. I think you should stop being secretive.'

He sighed. 'I suppose you are correct.' He reached into his person and took out the two halves of Rosabella's jester mask that he had managed to salvage as they escaped. They bore equally-neutral expressions. 'My mind is scattered, like splashes of paint on an artist's canvas.'

Mimi giggled. 'I missed your similes.'

'How...how does he _survive?_' He pointed at Fawful. 'That boy's halves merged into one as mine did, and he appears perfectly sane!'

'Maybe he's just better at hiding it,' the shapeshifter suggested. 'Or maybe Light and Dark Fawful weren't as different as your halves were. Or...' She grinned. 'Maybe both halves just really like solving puzzles and looking smart.'

'It is possible,' he agreed, then leaned his head against the wall. 'I am not sure what I desire, Mimi. Part of me is outraged at the destruction of my world and my alliance with you and the heroes, and yet another part wants to do nothing more than end this madness and return the multiverse to its original state.' He stared at the mask halves. 'It is like having each manifestation of me on either shoulder, yelling into my ears, attempting to overpower the other.'

'Which one's more powerful?' Dimentio couldn't answer.

Mimi propped her knees against her chest. 'Well, maybe it doesn't matter. All we need to do is destroy the Chaos Heart. What happens after that'll be whatever we want it to be.'

'Yes,' the jester said. 'There is no question about that.'

There was silence between them for a time as the plumber and the Bean went about their mental handiwork. Luigi and Peach were attempting to offer some ideas, and Bowser was parading around the room complaining about how it was harder than anything he'd ever set for Mario before.

Mimi stared at her palm, which was glowing with light. 'You can use the Purity Heart's magic,' she said to him. 'I think that counts for something, right? If you were completely evil, you wouldn't be able to use it. It would probably destroy you.'

He stared at his own palm, calling the Purity Heart's power to it. It shimmered, cutting through the dark mist that choked the room. 'Yes...' he replied quietly.

Burning pain shot through his hand and he made a noise, clenching his fist. 'What? What happened?' the girl asked, concerned.

'N...nothing,' he said hastily. 'Perhaps it is the air here.'

Mimi looked at him dubiously. 'I guess the mist is pretty thick...' There was no concealing her suspicions. 'What do you think of when you use it?'

'Hm?'

'When you use the Purity Heart's magic, what comes to your mind? You must think of something, right? It's love.'

He stared at her for a second and became aware that his heart was pounding. 'Ah...' he muttered. 'I'm not sure if...'

'Do you know what I think of?' Mimi asked, turning and looking straight at him.

'What?'

'You.'

Dimentio felt a wave of emotions travel up and down his body. He cleared his throat. '...oh.'

'You think of me,' she said, and a smile spread across her lips. 'I can see it in your face.' Slowly, the magician nodded, and Mimi hugged him.

'I cannot believe you still...' His voice trailed off.

'I never stopped.' She poked his chest. 'Because Light Dimentio's always been there, even a tiny bit.' She looked at him and her expression turned calm, her smile soft. 'You know...I'm still waiting. For it.'

The kiss. He didn't know what to do. 'Yes...' he said, nodding. 'I remember.' He looked away. 'It...is not time yet. We still have work to do.'

She sighed heavily. 'All right.' She moved back to a sitting position. 'I'm glad you're on our side, even if it's just for now. I missed you a lot.'

Dimentio stared at her, feeling his heart soften with every passing moment. He looked down at his lap. 'I...I have missed you too,' he said, his voice pained. 'Even in my darkest moments, when I tried so desperately to deny it, I...I truly did.'

Mimi leaned over and kissed his cheek. 'You're good at heart, Dimmy, under all of this crud.' She poked at his skin. 'I always knew that.'

'Hey!' Mario called. 'The next floor's open!'

'Took you long enough,' Bowser grunted dejectedly.

'Says the guy who just walked around moping the whole time,' Luigi shot. A menacing growl from the Koopa shut him up.

Mimi hopped to her feet and brushed off her dress. 'Awesome! Let's go.' She winked at him. 'We've got a Chaos Heart to beat up.' She left for the stairs.

Dimentio blinked, then stared at his hand; in the centre of his palm where he had summoned the Purity Heart's energy, a hole had been burned through his glove, exposing the blue skin underneath. It was burned, the flesh darkened and glowing softly with the Purity Heart's residue. He frowned, staring at his hand; the Purity Heart, the symbol of light and love, was burning his body. He could use it still, but it would be hazardous to him. Why was this happening?

_Am I so saturated with the Dark Prognosticus' power that it has come to this...?_ he thought worriedly. There was nothing else he could do, though. The only way was forward, and the only method of attack he had that was effective was through the Purity Heart's power.

He looked back down at the two mask halves, and once again the question came up: who was he? Was he good, or evil? What did he want?

Mimi came up in his mind and he unconsciously moved his hand over the black half, covering its face. He stared into the expressionless eye of the white half and felt a wholeness in his heart.

He stood up and walked after his new allies, rubbing his wound on his clothes.

Floor by floor, they descended deeper into the centre of the Void's churning form, and as they did its roar grew in intensity and volume. The enemies became larger and more deadly, the puzzles became more convoluted and mind-bending. Soon the entire team was adding their mental manpower to the tasks, and Dimentio had to fight through his daze to lend a hand. He noticed the spirits were getting less frequent as they travelled farther, the increasing aura of darkness around them muffling their presences.

Their own will was growing stronger. The Purity Heart's magic was taking to their beings more naturally as they used it, and soon they were taking down monsters with relative ease, the light dancing around them like auroras. Even Dimentio, as used to dark magic as he was, cut through his foes as easy as stomping on an ant.

'I guess light really is your thing after all,' Luigi had noted, laughing at the irony. The magician couldn't help but feel awkward.

They lost count of the floors long before now, but they barely noticed how long they had been in the temple. Each time they completed a room, their apprehension grew, and the threat of the Chaos Heart grew ever stronger in their minds.

And, the more Dimentio fought alongside them, the more he began to feel like it was with his allies that he belonged. Dark Dimentio's memories were slowly moving to the background, and Light Dimentio's became stronger and more solidified. It was impossible to deny the perspective he had gained through his human self, and impossible to ignore what he had felt when his world had crumbled and his mother had forsaken him.

This entire time, he had been wrong. That was becoming more and more certain. Now, with the Chaos Heart threatening to doom existence to a cycle of creation and destruction, he knew that he had to destroy it, even if he died in the process.

He looked at his hand once more; the burn had increased in size, and he could feel various other spots on his body burning with the same pain. He took out a Mushroom he had gotten from Fawful and ate it, healing the wounds. He had to make sure he could survive.

He would survive.

Then, without even noticing it happened, they reached the final floor.

They stood at the end of a long hall, at the end of which was a large set of doors which stretched to the ceiling. The mist was thick, but large torches lined the walls and shone through the dark particles like fire in a Jack-o'-lantern.

Beyond them was the Chaos Heart, the final enemy they had to face. Once this fight was done, they could all return to their lives at last.

Dimentio cleared his throat uncertainly and everyone looked at him. 'I must admit, I...have been touched by your forgiveness.'

'It is not being a thing of newness,' Fawful responded. 'They had the forgiving of Fawful as well.'

'Bwah hah hah hah!' Bowser laughed. 'I've lost count of the amount of times I've worked with these guys!'

The magician looked them over and sighed. 'It is no wonder you were the Heroes of the Light Prognosticus,' he said to Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser.

'Dimentio,' Blumiere said to him. 'I hope you will be able to join us after this is over. You can finally be our friend under pleasant terms.'

He ran his thumb over the healing burn on his palm, hidden from view. 'I...look forward to it.'

They began to walk, and Fawful came up beside him. 'Dimentio,' he said.

'Fawful,' Dimentio replied.

'It is being the true battle of finality.'

'Indeed.'

After a moment of silence, Fawful said, 'While you are still causing me to have fury, I can have the forgiving of you for this battle.'

The two of them looked into each other's eyes; Dimentio saw, amidst the glow of the Purity Heart, dark shadows in them. The Chaos Heart had left its mark on him, and from Fawful's expression the same remained true for himself. 'The Chaos Heart made us its vessels,' he said to the Bean. 'It is time to pay it back for what it did to us.'

Fawful nodded earnestly. 'It will have the begging for mercy it will not be having.' He turned his head forward. 'And then...'

_And then..._ Neither of them knew what came after that.

They stopped in front of the doors. 'All right guys,' Mario said. 'This is it. The last battle. The hardest battle we've fought.' He rubbed his knuckles on his overalls. 'Are you ready?'

'I'm ready,' Luigi said.

'Me too,' Peach replied.

'I'll always be ready to cream someone!' Bowser roared, fire in his throat.

'I too will fight against the darkness.' Blumiere.

'I'll do my best.' Timpani.

'We'll finish here and go home.' Nastasia.

'I'll make it more scared than it's ever been!' Mimi.

'I'll give it the chunkin' of a lifetime!' O'Chunks.

'It will taste the fury of Fawful!' Fawful.

Dimentio clenched his fists; once again, everyone was looking at him. To fight with them now was to turn his back on everything he had worked for his entire life. It was to do battle against an evil that had rooted itself in his very soul for millennia. To fight against the Chaos Heart was to truly fight against everything he knew.

He took out the mask halves again. Light. Dark. Two sides of one face.

He dropped the dark half on the floor and crushed it beneath his foot; it broke to pieces. He put the light half of the mask on his face, and it mimicked his expressions. 'We will fight, like a band of heroes slaying a fearsome dragon!' He strode in front of everyone. 'It is time for you to take back what was stolen from you. And it is time for me to right my wrong.' He snapped his fingers and the doors opened.

They walked out into the spinning, endless expanse of the Void, and the Purity Heart's energy glowed powerfully, protecting them from its destructive force. Under their feet was a black, reflective, flat surface that went off into the distance in every direction. Behind them, the doors shut. When they turned around, the temple was gone.

They turned their eyes forward. A black pillar climbed high into the air above them; around it, pieces of Dark Dimentio's destroyed castle oscillated weightlessly. Black lightning sparked from stone to stone, and trails of dark dust whipped against them. The powerful howl of the black hole they were right in the middle of filled their ears like the breathing of a beast the size of a mountain.

At the top of the pillar stood the new humanoid form of the Chaos Heart, its back to them and its arms spread widely. 'Ahh...' it sighed. 'Endless destruction...the Void's beauty is unmatched by all of the worlds.' It turned around. 'But it seems that eleven unsightly stains taint my wonderful Void.' It stepped off of the pillar, which disappeared as it slowly lowered itself down to ground level. 'Greetings, heroes.'

'The hour of your demise is nigh, Chaos Heart,' Dimentio said firmly. 'We will destroy you.'

'_**HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA!**_' it suddenly laughed, its face crazed; its eyes were wide, and in the hollow sockets swirled blood red Voids of their own. '_**YOUR WORDS ARE AS LAUGHABLE AS YOUR SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART!**_' The Void rumbled and the ground shook. '_**YOU WILL DIE HERE, AND YOUR SOUL SHALL BE SPREAD THIN BY THE VOID'S UNDYING POWER!**_' The ground shifted all around the Chaos Heart, and Dimentio saw humanoid figures rising out of it, their bodies dripping with the same black substance as the Heart. '_**DESTROYER OF WORLDS, YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR SINS AND REST ETERNALLY WITH YOUR ALLIES!**_'

The eleven of them drew what weapons they had, and their bodies glowed with bright, golden light. The Purity Heart's magic shone around Dimentio's palms. He curled his mouth in distaste, and his masked face imitated the gesture. His words came out determined, with the weight of his whole heart in his voice.

'It is time to disappear.'


	39. Chapter 39: Looking Into Eternity

Chapter 39: Looking into Eternity

Dimentio

The creatures advanced as a writhing mass of darkness, black fluid dripping from their forms, their eyes shifting gems of crimson.

'Let's-a go!' Mario and Luigi both yelled at once, drawing their hammers and running directly into the fray. Bowser roared and took off with them. They jumped into the army of monsters and, with the Purity Heart's magic pulsing with every strike, gave the enemy Underwhere with their hammers, fists, and fiery breath.

Dimentio flew up into the air, with the others who could easily fly joining him. The monsters overtook Peach, Timpani, and O'Chunks. 'Run back teh yer mums, yeh slimey hogs!' the Scotsman bellowed, glowing with light and swinging his arms to knock them aside like bowling pins. Peach and Timpani moved the light through the air like it was a part of their bodies, waves of energy throwing the monsters into the sky and disintegrating them.

'They can fight...' Dimentio murmured. 'But for how long?'

Fawful flew up beside him, his Headgear's thrusters burning with a never-ending fuel. 'As long as they are needing to!' he answered fiercely. 'This is a battle which we cannot have the losing of! Make our enemies crumble like statues made of crackers!'

He looked around him; Mimi, Blumiere, and Nastasia had also joined him. They gave affirmative nods. 'Very well,' Dimentio said, and he couldn't help but feel a grin spread across his face. 'Together we will take down an army of endless foes!'

A wave of winged enemies flew up to meet them and they dispersed. Fawful rolled to the side, spinning around and blasting a monster out of the air with a single shot from his Headgear's glowing jaw. 'Hahahahahaha!' he cackled. 'I have chortles! Your bodies of darkness are disappearing like cake at the party of your demise!' One of the creatures spread its wings and roared, the Void itself inside its gullet. A blast of darkness blew out of its mouth and hit the cackling Bean, making him spiral out of control. He leveled out and began a frenzied chase through the air.

Four monsters soared at him. He teleported out of their fight path and reappeared with light glowing in his hands. Compressing the light into blocks of dimensional magic, he threw them at the things; they burst with their signature _boing!_s and blew chunks of their body off.

One of the creatures on the ground jumped high into the air and latched onto his foot, dragging him down to the surface of their arena. 'Gah!' he spat. 'Unhand me!'

Mario slid through the throngs of foes and stomped on the monster's head. It released Dimentio, and he jumped up into the air. The red plumber delivered an uppercut to their foe and the magician threw a torrent of light magic down on it, blowing it into a mist. Mario ran through the particles and leaped up into the air, spinning with his Ultra Hammer like a tornado of luminescence, every strike like the chime of a clear bell. Dimentio teleported above Mario to meet a flying foe bearing down upon the man, and snapped his fingers; an explosion of light made it explode.

'Luigi!' Mario called. 'It's Bros. Attack time!'

Luigi barrelled through the multitude of monsters and jumped up, smacking his palms together and releasing a shockwave of golden lightning that burned through foes and left gaping holes in their bodies. 'All right, let's-a go!' he shouted. He leaped up again and hooked his feet under Mario's hammerhead, holding out his hands; bright shocks crawled instantly across his palms. The red plumber spun his brother in a circle, blasting every enemy within reach with powerful electricity. He jumped up in the air and became a top of gyrating ferocity, the smash and crackle of his younger brother against their foes reverberating through the crowd.

Dimentio hopped in the air himself. 'Ahahaha, let's see what I can contribute to this move!' He waved his hands and bent the dimensions around them, extending their reach by a multitude; a massive radius of light spiralled out from them and sliced through the monsters like butter.

Huge monsters rampaged through the army, knocking aside friends on their way to their foes. Dimentio threw out his hand and the two plumbers flew towards the behemoths, only to bounce uselessly off of them. 'Curses,' he sighed. 'Not heavy enough.'

On cue, Bowser roared and punched one in the gut, making it go back several feet. 'GRAH! YOU'RE NOT AS STRONG AS ME!' The thing rammed its body against him and he stopped it with his clawed hands, then sucked back his breath and charred it with golden fire radiating with light. 'GWAH HAH HAH! MELT AWAY!'

O'Chunks threw one large foe into another, then hopped beside the Koopa King. 'Oi! Any room fer two other fists that're itchin' teh fight?'

Bowser picked at his teeth. 'Nah, you'll just get in my way, Chunky. Leave these guys to the _pro_ here!'

The Scotsman snorted, grinning. 'Yeh sure yer not rusty, turtle? Yeh haven't been back as long as me!'

'Well...' the Koopa pondered, then cracked his knuckles as two more huge creatures approached, powerful, fanged jaws crunching together hungrily. 'Let's make a bet: I beat mine first, you make me a cake.'

'Wh...I can't bake!'

'I can't either!' the spiked turtle laughed. He pounded his fist into his palm, grinning with teeth that could bite through bone. 'Now let's chunk.'

The two burly heroes gave their distinctive battle cries and ran at the foes they had marked as theirs. Bowser punched at his, which was blocked by the creature's hand. It heaved him up and he ducked into his shell as he was slammed into the ground. He spun his shell around, making the enemy fly off its feet and let go of his fist. True to his species, Bowser shot off in the direction of the monster and slammed into it, his spikes slashing holes in its body.

O'Chunks released a plume of gas, striking into his enemy like a missile. Planting his feet on the ground as they both slid, he grabbed the creature's sides and spun it around. 'Chunks away!' he cried, and threw the monster, running after its flying form. He jumped up and smashed down on it, then fell onto its head feet-first. 'C'mon, disappear! I wanna dig me chompers into that cake!'

Bowser's enemy crashed into O'Chunks, knocking him off of the other one. The Koopa smashed into his foe, fire spewing from his mouth. He used the grounded monster as a stepping stool and punched the other huge being away. O'Chunks wound up a fist and struck it upwards, flying up in the air at the same time with another burst of gas. He grabbed its torso and threw it down at Bowser, who burned right through it with fire powered by the Purity Heart. The other foe got up, flinging the Koopa off of it, but the huge human came down hard on its head while Bowser got up and punched at its torso. It dissolved into goo under the twin blows.

'Blegh,' O'Chunks huffed, trying to get the substance off his shoes. 'So who gets teh eat the cake?'

'Who cares?' the Koopa grunted, light curling off of his fist. 'I wasn't gonna bake you one anyway.'

'Ey!'

'Shut up and fight, you loser!'

Dimentio teleported at random throughout the crowd, dispatching foes left and right with snaps of his fingers and waves of his hand. The Purity Heart's energy radiated off of him in waves, making him a beacon of light amidst a sea of darkness.

His skin was burning from the contact with his own light. The love that had swollen his heart and seeped from his skin was bursting the very atoms that composed his body, his soul crying for release from the dark shell. 'Gngh...' he grunted, writhing where he stood. 'Blast this infernal body and its ties to darkness!' He reached into his person and brought out another Mushroom. He'd made sure to stock up on the things. He opened his mouth and made to eat it quickly.

Suddenly, a being smashed into him at high speed, sending him sliding across the ground and the Mushroom flying out of his hands and stomped on by unaware feet. He shouted in pain from the collision and came to a stop, finding himself with two feet pressing down hard on his chest and two hands around his throat.

The Chaos Heart itself was on top of him, squeezing his neck with the strength of a giant. '_**HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA!**_' it screeched in laughter, its wide, sadistic red eyes inches from his own. 'Oh how pleasing it is to me that you all squirm!'

'Y...you...ghck...!' Dimentio gasped through his constricted windpipe. His lungs were burning from lack of whatever kept him alive in the middle of the Void, the glow around his body paling.

'Is it not grand to feel the pain you have given to others for your entire life, Dimentio? To feel your life ebb away under the power of a godlike being?' The Chaos Heart had an aura of darkness around it just as he had before, and its swirling eyes were like glowing, bloodied knives in the shadows, glinting with a deadly edge. 'You have _crushed_ lesser beings under your curled shoe heels for millennia. How does it feel now, to have the tables turned on you?' Its mouth was wide as if preparing to eat a meal, and the spinning depths of the Void rumbled in its throat. 'Haaa haaa _haaa_.'

'You w-won't...' he choked, trying desperately to summon the Purity Heart's energy again. It was becoming difficult to envision anything with the lack of sustenance to his brain; he felt lightheaded, and the groans of the Void were fading to pleasant white noise in the furthest reaches of his hearing.

The Heart took one hand off his throat and ran a long, pointed finger around his chest. 'I wonder how I should kill you...' it whispered. 'Perhaps I shall crush your heart and complete karma's vicious cycle!'

'_YAAAAAAH!_' came a high scream. A blast of light blew against the Chaos Heart and threw him off of Dimentio, the tips of his fingers slashing the sides of his neck. Ignoring the pain, the magician breathed deeply, his head pounding with enriched blood. The dissipating corpses of five winged monsters soared past him and buried the Chaos Heart beneath them.

Fawful hit the ground rolling, then got to his feet and ran at him. 'Magician of dimensions!' he called, taking out a green Ultra Shroom. 'You had the sustaining of much injury!'

Dimentio stood up unsteadily and ate the Mushroom without a second glance. 'Your innate powers of observation astound me even now,' he said, trying to disguise his shaking voice with scorn.

An explosion of darkness made them turn; the Chaos Heart blew apart the remains of the monsters, its dark aura flaring up into the sky above them all. 'Distractions!' it barked. 'I have no time for your folly!'

It sucked back its breath and shot a massive blast of darkness out of its mouth. Dimentio and Fawful both flew to either side, propelled by the Purity Heart. The blast cut through the army, vaporizing the Heart's own underlings. Fawful looked to the jester. 'Let us have vengeance for its manipulation of us!'

Dimentio, grinned, then flicked his finger and summoned swirls of light. 'I wholeheartedly concur, my Beanish friend!'

The two of them flew at the Chaos Heart and brought their hands forward, attacking it with a shockwave of Purity Heart energy. It blocked the blows with its arms, an audible hissing sound marking the impact as the opposing energies burned through each other. The dark monster groaned in pain. 'Curse that horrid sister of mine!' he snarled. 'I'll extinguish all of its radiance from this realm!'

A wave of darkness surged up from the ground beneath them, throwing them into the air and beating their bodies. It disappeared and the Chaos Heart jumped up, soaring past Dimentio. It threw its hands forward at Fawful, who was sent plummeting to the ground after the strike, then turned its body downward and flew at Dimentio. The magician drew up a barrier, but the impact threw him to the ground too. He teleported to the side and threw a magical projectile at it, which it met with a projectile of its own; they exploded in the air.

Dimentio teleported, then reappeared with a host of illusionary clones. 'Can you spot the hidden puppetmaster?' they all asked at once.

The Chaos Heart made a guttural growl that sounded like grinding steel in his throat. 'You insult me with your pitiful trickery.'

The Dimentios each let loose a volley of glowing blasts at the Heart, which leapt away, dodging the shimmering projectiles. 'Ahahaha!' they laughed. ' Can you avoid my blasts forever?'

The Chaos Heart came to a stop. 'Childish cretin, I am the Void. There is nothing I cannot do in my own realm.'

The magicians aimed themselves towards the Heart, light in their hands. 'I beg to differ, my old artefact!' They flew at it.

It sighed and lurched; black spikes dripping with whatever it was made of shot out of it, one per jester. All but one went right through the illusions; the genuine Dimentio drew up a barrier and was pounded in the stomach, careening through the air and landing on the ground on his feet. 'Enough of your foolishness,' it said venomously, spreading its arms to the side. Its eyes widened and its mouth went into a deep scowl. 'It is time to drown you in my power.'

The Chaos Heart flung its hands up and the ground all around it surged upwards, a huge tidal wave of darkness arcing overhead and tumbling down towards him. Agonized faces made from the Void itself screamed at him in the liquid depths, the dissonant voices merging in a sound that squirmed into his ears.

A matching tidal wave of light met the dark one before it hit him; they curled together in the air before evaporating into steam, blowing against his face. Dimentio turned; Peach and Timpani had broken off from the army and had their hands up, the Purity Heart's energy around them like cloaks. 'We've got you, Dimentio!' Peach beamed. The magician was dumbfounded. The Purity Heart could be used by them in ways he had never seen before.

'_Chaos Heart!_' A figure slashed out at the monster, which blocked it and threw him away. Blumiere landed on his feet beside Dimentio, his sceptre shimmering with gold. He turned and tipped his white hop hat. 'Brother.'

'...brother.' The jester returned the greeting reluctantly. 'Your wife is impressive.'

Despite the situation they were in, the former prince actually grinned. 'Oh I know, believe me.'

'As much as the banter of two siblings warms my _heart,_' the Chaos Heart sneered, placing a hand over its chest for emphasis, 'I believe there is a jester whom I wish to kill.'

The Heart lunged at them, closing the entire distance in an instant. Blumiere blocked the blow with his sceptre, but the Chaos Heart kicked off of him with its feet. Tendrils extended from its body and wrapped around him, slamming him against the ground and throwing him underneath it. It shot another huge blast of black energy out of its mouth, which Dimentio flew to avoid, then flew at the Heart. It dodged him and lashed out at him with its tendrils, which went right through him; the illusionary copy disappeared and the real Dimentio fired a blast of light at its back, making it hit the ground hard.

'_**GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!**_' it screamed, the energy ripping apart its entire back. Its head spun around a half-revolution and roared at him. '_**I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!**_'

The magician flew up in the air to avoid another blast, then teleported to the left away from tendrils. Blumiere flew back and delivered a slash with his sceptre, tearing a gash in the foe. It screamed and grabbed the man's weapon before he could deliver another blow, then Dimentio came down and slammed a dimensional explosive into its shoulder, which blew off its arm.

The army of monsters was thinning, its members slinking back into the ground where they had come from. '_No..._' the Chaos Heart hissed, clutching its missing left arm. 'I will not allow this!' It parried blows from both Blumiere and Dimentio, grabbing the prince and slamming him against the jester. It jumped up and prepared another blast in its mouth. 'Dissolve into mist like the rest of existence!' it yelled.

A Rubee with a golden core lodged itself into its stomach. It screamed and ripped out the large jewel, which left veins of light running through the hole. '_YOU!_' it howled at Mimi, extending tendrils at her. She summoned more Rubees, which took the blows instead of her, then flew down and kicked the Chaos Heart in the face. It slid, its eyes murderous. '_YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING!_'

'I don't know what you're talking about!' the shapeshifter shot, taking two Rubees in her hands and flying at it, sharp stones forward.

It punctured one gem with a tendril and caught the other with the hand it had left. 'You are the one rooted so deeply in his heart...' it hissed at her, squeezing the Rubee; deep cracks split into it, light leaking from the crevices. 'It is you who caused the love I was forced to weather for him!' A tendril shot out of its body and stabbed through her stomach; she gasped in pain.

Dimentio flew to his feet. 'MIMI!' he cried, and the Purity Heart's aura erupted around his body, sending searing pain across him that he knew existed but barely felt.

'It was you! You you you _you you you you you!_' the Chaos Heart screeched, a new tendril puncturing Mimi with every word. Blood was dripping from her wounds. '_I'LL RIP YOU APART!_'

Dimentio roared in rage, slamming against the Chaos Heart only to be met with a barrier of darkness. He forced himself against it, thin strings of light moving into the wall and splitting it. 'Mimi!' he yelled. 'Don't die!' He could see the rest of the group running to them, the army completely gone. The Chaos Heart had been wounded; they could win!

Mimi tilted her head to the side and smiled. 'H-heh...this doesn't even hurt.'

The Rubee exploded in a brilliant flash, disintegrating the Chaos Heart's remaining hand and making it fall to the ground. It was crying out in pain, high-pitched shrieks splitting across their ears. The barrier disappeared. '_**MY BODY!**_' it howled, squirming erratically on the ground. '_**STOP DESTROYING MY BODY!**_'

Dimentio threw a Mushroom through the air at her; in a brief burst of purple, pixilated smoke, her head became a huge, fanged maw and gobbled it whole. In another burst she was back to normal, chewing gratefully on the item. He ran over to her. 'Mimi, are you hurt?'

The girl shrugged, still chewing. 'I'll be better in a minute,' she told him, her words muffled. The holes in her body still dripped blood. 'The Purity Heart's protecting me a bit anyway.' When she swallowed, the holes began to fill in a few moments. 'Man these things are awesome.'

'_**STOP TALKING!**_' the Heart screamed at them. '_**JUST DIE! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!**_' It's body bulged with tendrils struggling to come out and kill them.

Nastasia flipped into the dimension in front of them. 'Yeah, that's not on the schedule,' she told it, her eyes narrow and dangerous. 'I think you're going to be the one to die, K?' She lowered her glasses and her eyes glinted gold. 'The Purity Heart's going to end your life here.'

Shining yellow spirals spun around the Chaos Heart, locking him into place and lifting him in the air. '_**NO! RELEASE ME! RELEASE MEEEE!**_'

'Now, get him!' Mimi yelled, jumping up in the air. All ten of them, with the Purity Heart's energy swirling around them, leaped up and struck as one, their auras merging into a massive star of light and power, engulfing the Chaos Heart. The light pulsed throughout the Void and it shifted, churning uneasily. All of them felt it tremble.

The light cleared and they landed. Dimentio's body was trembling under the strain of the Purity Heart, but he didn't care. This was their victory.

The decaying lump of a body that the Chaos Heart still possessed laid on the ground like a mound of semi-hardened tar. The actual Chaos Heart in its original form was pulsing weakly, its dark radiance dulled. _'N...no...'_ it moaned in their minds, its mouth gone.

'At last, the end,' Dimentio sighed. 'There is nothing more you can do. It is time to give up.'

_'H...a...h...a...h...a...'_ it laughed slowly. _'This is...the Void...there is nothing...I cannot...do...'_

The entire Void shifted, the ground quaking. 'What's going on?!' Mario demanded.

_'This is...my realm...' _The Chaos Heart's mental voice was a low, melodic hum. _'Here you will meet...your e...n...d...s...'_

Suddenly the floor broke away and the Chaos Heart plummeted down below them. 'No!' Fawful and Dimentio both yelled, running up to the edge of the hole. They watched as it fell down, down into the depths. They looked after it and saw a white, heart-shaped object. The two hearts were pulsing with dark energy.

Fawful looked at him, panicked. 'It is merging with the core!' the Bean shouted.

An enormous updraft of energy threw everyone up in the air when the Chaos Heart fell into the core of the Void. The large, white heart turned black and shifted with energy. 'Wh...what's going on?!' Luigi shouted. 'What's it doing?!'

Dimentio got up, his heart pounding in pure panic. 'It's—'

A deep, rumbling roar cut the air from every single direction, the Void itself shaking with its force. The magician and the scientist peered down into the expanse below, with their other nine companions joining them.

A gigantic monster stared up at them, black and oozing with the Chaos Heart's matter. It was a horrific mishmash of beings, massive body parts sticking out at random. Claws and teeth jutted out from its body, tongues and tentacles writhed. Huge eyes blinked all over its body, looking around rapidly at the swirling dimension around it. Two hulking armlike appendages came out from its body, covered in parts that shifted and squirmed with a billion lifeforms stolen from destroyed dimensions. Near the top of the creature were three heads, serpentine in nature, craning and desperately moving to see.

'Mamma mia...' the Mario Bros. both said, sick to their stomachs.

'We...we have to fight that?!' Bowser shouted incredulously.

Suddenly, all the motley eyes on the colossus trained themselves on them. The Void shook, and the Chaos Heart's voice bellowed through their minds.

_'__**REMNANTS OF THE WORLDS,**__'_ it said, its voice speaking in unison with a billion others. _'__**YOU ARE LOST AT THE END OF EVERYTHING. THE VOID WILL BE YOUR RESTING PLACE.**__' _Then the three heads moved, opened their mouths, and roared.

It was a sound empowered by the sorrows of all the dimensions that ever existed. The dying screams of all people lost to the Void clawed up through its space and met their ears, shaking them to their hearts and souls and making their bones quake with fear and grief. Sadness reached up and grabbed Dimentio's throat, and he blinked quickly to stop tears that only moments ago would never have come.

Inside the monster's mouths was everything. Every person, every city, every mountain, every ocean, every sky. The horrible, awful gullets of the Chaos Heart's hideous form contained every moment the dimensions had known, stretching back to the beginning of time.

Fawful made a pitiful noise and stared, pale-faced, at their enemy. Dimentio felt so small, so insignificant, like an insect, and the desire to flee to the furthest corners of the Void took hold of him. The two villains stayed there, silent, looking into eternity, feeling themselves shrink.

After a moment, their nine allies stepped to the edge of the drop. 'Guys...' Mario said. 'It's now or never. We have to fight. For everything. For everyone.'

Dimentio and Fawful looked at each other. For the first time, Dimentio found that he regarded Fawful as more than just a simple child. He was strong, intelligent, and his heart glowed with a brilliance that matched the most righteous hero among them. He had grown.

'Dimentio...' the Bean said quietly. 'It is being time to fight together again.'

Slowly, the magician nodded. 'Yes. It is time.'

They took one last look at everything that ever was, feeling the Purity Heart's energy fill up their bodies in anticipation.

Then they jumped, and their bodies fell beneath the floor and into the groundless expanse of the Void. Their bodies warmed, and they began to fly, not fall, down towards the final battle that they would have to face.

This was it.


	40. Chapter 40: Sunrise of a Million Souls

Chapter 40: Sunrise of a Million Souls ~Final Chapter~

Dimentio

The heroes descended upon the goliath, eleven small dots of light against the dark backdrop of the Void, flying towards a monster blacker than the deepest, darkest pit of the Underwhere. Despite the pure, primal terror coursing through his body, the Purity Heart's light warmed Dimentio to his soul and bound his nerves in steel.

The Chaos Heart's grotesque form rumbled and it let loose another bone-shaking roar from all of the mouths scattered across its body. _**'I WILL CONSUME YOUR LIGHT AND CRUSH YOUR SOULS.'**_

'Not without banishing your darkness!' Blumiere bellowed, his voice magnified. 'Face the brilliance of the Purity Heart!'

They all roared and dispersed, flying around their colossal foe. Enormous, creeping tendrils of darkness peeled off of its skin and began inching their way towards them through the air. _**'THERE IS NO BRILLIANCE IN YOU.'**_ Winged monsters fell away from its body, giving chase to them.

Dimentio flew downwards with several coming after him. He flipped around. 'My dimensional powers are wasted on rabble such as you!' he snarled, summoning light to dance at his fingertips. 'As is the light I wield!' He snapped his fingers and they froze into place, then they were blown to mist by his energy shot. He ducked under a tendril, which tore through the sky like a galactic serpent, inky black and dripping fluid that floated in the air.

Smaller tendrils lashed from the large one and wrapped around his wrists and ankles. 'G...gah!' he exclaimed, struggling. They pulled him towards their host; mouths with rows of teeth went along it, shifting and spitting. The magician flicked his wrist and threw another orb of light into one of the mouths; it exploded and the tendrils let him go. He flew up over the top of the tendril.

Two more monsters swooped down to assail him. He teleported away from one and hit it in the face with a light projectile. The other one latched onto him, roaring in his face. Claws and pincers jutted out from its face, and its mouth was little more than a whirling array of teeth and tongues. 'Oh Jaydes...!' he grunted.

Two boots came down on the monster's head and Dimentio fell away from it. Mario and Luigi hopped off the giant tendril, Ultra Hammers in hand, and smashed the creature into oblivion. 'Hey Dimentio!' Mario called, sliding along the thick line. 'Watch yourself!'

Luigi sidestepped a smaller tendril and blasted a minion with electricity. 'Wouldn't want to lose a fighter!' the younger brother added. 'Wah!' he then yelled as a sub-tendril flew out and lashed at his foot.

Dimentio blasted light at the tendril, which tore a small hole into it. 'How...how can we damage this thing?!' he shouted, taking care of an enemy eyeing Luigi. 'It's so massive that our attacks are insignificant!'

'We'll think of something!' Mario said. 'This isn't the worst thing I've fought!'

'It's not?' Luigi asked.

'...well, actually...'

'Enough of this chatter!' Dimentio harped. 'Keep trying!' He flew away from them, watching the two specks of light continue on their dash up the tentacle extending from the huge monster.

He flew a distance away and tried his best to determine the basic structure of the thing despite how much larger it was than he was. It seemed to be composed of an entire upper body from the torso to the head, though it was heavily deformed and moved as if made of a crowd of panicked people. Thousands of eyes darted around to the points of light, many on him. And the voices, all the voices coming from its pores, whispering, screaming, never stopping. _"You will die!"_ they howled in insane fury. _"Where am I?!" "My home!" "Where is my baby?!" "HELP ME!"_ The creature's every cell screamed for salvation.

_I killed them,_ Dimentio thought with controlled horror. _There is nobody inside of this that I did not destroy._

There was no obvious point of weakness. Nothing stuck out like a sore thumb. What could they do? How could they kill it?

The eyes suddenly widened, and out of their pupils came concentrated beams of darkness that whistled through the Void's air and went straight at him. He gave a cry and flew away, dodging the beams that arced towards him. 'Oh whatever,' he snarled, summoning more energy. 'Forget planning.'

He enshrouded himself in energy and shot himself at the thing's body. A hand composed of twenty clawed fingers shot out of it and snapped at him, but he flew right through it and slammed into the Chaos Heart, the Purity Heart's energy sending an impetus of explosive force against the body. The shadowy matter curled away and dissipated, leaving an enormous crater in the side of it.

_**'YOU FOOL,'**_ the Chaos Heart said. _**'YOUR POWERFUL ATTACK HAS LEFT BUT AN INSIGNIFICANT NICK ON MY BODY. THERE IS NAUGHT THAT YOU CAN DO AGAINST ME.'**_

A host of tendrils burst out of the wall of shadow before him and pulled his limbs out, stretching him. One more slowly came out, five mouths on its tip, drooling, making its hungry way towards his body.

A flash of light vaporized the tendrils. Blumiere flew down to him and grabbed his arm. The two of them ascended. 'I cannot see a way to harm this abomination,' the prince said.

'We will think of something,' Dimentio said, repeating Mario's words. They had to remain resolute.

'I fear there is nothing we can do.'

Dimentio grabbed Blumiere's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes, a scowl on his face. 'Blumiere, you and I tore the worlds asunder with our sheer power. There is _something_ we can do!' He shook him. 'We cannot let the multiverse continue to exist at the hands of the Chaos Heart!'

Blumiere looked at him, stunned but sympathetic. The two of them were united by their omnicidal pasts, and the prince of darkness knew what it felt like to want to atone. He nodded. 'You are right. There must be something.'

Dimentio teleported and blasted a foe that flew towards them. 'Go around to its back, I will continue examining the front!'

The magician flew up. A host of flaming creatures fell past him, and Bowser smashed through wave after wave of enemies. Smaller tendrils bounced harmlessly off of his shell. 'Grah!' he roared. 'Get out of my way!' The Koopa rose up to the upper part of the torso, took a deep breath, and blasted golden fire at the monster. It lapped at its skin.

_**'WHAT AN IRKSOME BEING YOU ARE, KING OF THE KOOPAS.'**_ A noise of displeasure rumbled through the Void. _**'BUT YOU ARE SO SMALL.'**_

'I'm not small!' Bowser shot back indignantly. 'I'm huge!'

The Chaos Heart brought a hand back. _**'YOU ARE A FLY.'**_He smashed Bowser with the back of his hand, an enormous crash sounding upon impact. A small noise of pain escaped his jaw, and Bowser went flying limply, making no more noise.

'BOWSER!' cried Peach. 'NO!'

The Koopa disappeared in a flash of light; his soul flew out of his mouth and immediately got torn to shreds by the black hole that surrounded them. The Purity Heart's energy flew back to them, splitting into ten and flying into their chests.

Dimentio floated in stunned silence. A single blow from the Chaos Heart had killed Bowser. How...how could they win this?

'_GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_' O'Chunks flew at the Chaos Heart with rage in his eyes. '_YEH HELLSPAWNED DEMON! I'LL MAKE YEH PAY FER HIM!_'

_**'YOU SHALL MEET HIS SAME FATE.'**_

Two more colossal tendrils burst from the Chaos Heart's body, teeth gnashing along its length. The liquefied remains of bodies struggled to escape their dark prison to no avail. They spread to either side of O'Chunks' flying body and smashed together; the Scotsman soared up and touched down on one, running along its top. 'Yeh can't outchunk O'Chunks! I'll rip yeh apart!' Smaller subtendrils came out of the larger one, but O'Chunks slammed right through them, mist made of light spiraling off of his arms and fists. He leaped in the air and punched through the stomach of a flying foe, then spun his fists and took a head off of another. Two more came in front of him, and two behind him. He hit the ground and then jumped up again, bringing his fists above him. The two behind him flew at him, claws bared.

Nastasia flew down onto his shoulders, turned around, and lowered her glasses. Spirals of light appeared around the monsters and they exploded into a powder. O'Chunks brought his fists down and smashed both front ones, then continued his run up the tendril. 'Oy Nassy!' he called.

'Keep running,' she told him. 'I'll watch out for you.' The man nodded.

Dimentio continued his defense of himself, but couldn't tear his eyes away from the point of light that was making its way up the snaky tendril. It was a futile effort, but it was something, and it was inspiring.

Nastasia's eyes glowed and coils of Purity Heart energy circled around the tendril; veins of light began to stretch along it and it started to stiffen. 'O'Chunks,' she said. 'Punch it.'

'Aye aye, cap'n!' he responded. He leapt up into the air and brought his fists down on the tendril. The cracks of light exploded and the end of the tentacle ripped apart in a flash of luminescence. The Chaos Heart gave what to it was a mumble of discontent, but to them was a roar.

'Now, fly up!' the secretary demanded, and O'Chunks obliged.

_**'YOU SHALL GO NO FURTHER,'**_ the Chaos Heart boomed. Hundreds of tendrils burst out of its body and went straight up after them, maws and eyeballs on them all.

'O'Chunks, watch—aah!' A tendril flew up and lashed her in the face; her glasses flew off and into the body of the Chaos Heart. Nastasia's mouth turned into a snarl. '...keep flying.' She held onto the man with both hands, burning up the tendrils with their eyes.

'They're not holdin' up!' the warrior said as the tendrils kept coming and advanced closer and closer to them. 'Yeh need teh—'

Nastasia flipped around underneath him and hit him with a blast of magic, making him soar up. 'I know what I need to do,' she said. She flew up the length of the Chaos Heart's right shoulder, spreading the veins of light all across it.

_**'ENOUGH,'**_ the Heart said angrily, its words making them quake. _**'STOP THIS AT ONCE.'**_

Nastasia flew above the shoulder, but a tendril grabbed her. Then another, then another. She found herself face-to-face with hundreds upon hundreds of slithering whips. Her eyes stopped glowing. She gritted her teeth. 'Do what you have to do, O'Chunks...' she whispered, then shut her eyes. The legion of tendrils wrapped around her, then pulled in every direction, ripping her to shreds.

O'Chunks' eyes widened. 'N...NASTASIA!' he yelled, and his aura of light flared up in his rage, growing all the larger as Nastasia's light was added to his own. His eyes glowed brightly, and he clenched his fists so hard the metal gauntlets he wore on them popped into pieces. He aimed himself down at the Chaos Heart's shoulder, which was shining with the Purity Heart's light. 'YEH'VE CROSSED THE WRONG MAN! CHUNKS AWAY!'

The man dropped, his fist forward, a streak of yellow in everyone's sight. His body collided with the ligament, and an enormous blare of light and sound sent a shockwave of pure force at them all. Dimentio grunted and felt himself fly back, his hat flying off and whipping away.

_**'GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!'**_ the Chaos Heart screamed, and its entire arm tore away from its body. A rush of souls, blackened and rotted, flew from the hole, howling as they dissipated into the Void's form. The limb and the tendril both floated away from their body, vaporizing into light and shadow.

The other giant tendril came up at O'Chunks. He brought his fist back and punched the tip with a light-powered strike, making it recoil from the blow. 'Yer not killin' me yet!'

Dimentio had seen enough. He flew towards, the Chaos Heart, light streaming between his fingers. Nastasia had done it. She had figured out a way to hurt it. Now all they had to do was repeat it.

_**'I WILL MAKE YOUR SOULS WRITHE IN AGONY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!'**_ the monster howled, making the magician slam his hands over his ears. It tensed, then a huge, wormlike creature came out of its chest, screeching with murderous hunger.

Fawful flew by him, making quick work of smaller foes. 'Dimentio, that...!' the Bean shouted, his eyes wide saucers of shimmering yellow. 'That is being...!'

'Not even an inkling as horrifying as the Chaos Heart,' he finished for the boy. 'Take it down.'

The Bean blinked, then nodded. 'Okayo.' He shot off towards the worm.

Dimentio teleported away from another host of flying creatures, then began his flight towards the other shoulder of the Chaos Heart. They had to saturate the limb with light... 'Nastasia, you truly are a genius! Ahahahaha!' He clapped his hands and swiped them to the sides, a wave of energy throwing his foes aside and burning them with the Purity Heart's energy. 'Were...a genius,' he corrected.

He could see the gigantic worm floating through space far away from him, doing battle with a number of his allies. It shrieked, and globules of black slime were spat out of its mouth and flew around it, giving chase to the light aggressors. He would have to help them once this was done.

The Chaos Heart turned directly towards him, all of its billions of eyes scrutinizing his body. _**'I'LL NOT LET YOU TOUCH ME,'**_ it rumbled, its three serpentine heads hissing and snarling. The colossus extended its arm and opened up its palm. _**'YOU WILL NOT DAMAGE ME AGAIN.'**_ A gash appeared in its hand and a plume of smoke blasted out of it and right towards him. He grunted and put up a shield around himself; the smoke blew past him.

A cacophony of shrieks and moans exploded around him, and agonized faces pressed up against his shield like battering rams. He saw faces he knew; his father, his brothers, his mother. Rosabella, both kings, and countless numbers of faces he knew but names he could not place. _'DIMENTIO!'_ they hollered, their voices high and shrill.

The magician's arms were in front of him, the Purity Heart's barrier was fading. 'Gngh...I can't...save you yet...!' He put all his effort into strengthening the barrier, then hurled himself to the side, flying out of the column of smoke. The Chaos Heart put its palm out again and released another burst of souls at him. He dodged it narrowly and moved near the arm. 'Now...' he said to himself, calling forth light. 'We must get to work.'

Tendrils came out of the arm and snaked towards him. He dodged a number of them, but couldn't avoid one; it tore through his chest to the other side. He choked, and numbing pain spread from the impaling wound. More still burst out of the monster and came towards him.

Golden jewels flew through the tendrils and cut them to confetti. Mimi grabbed Dimentio by the arm and dodged more tendrils, her Rubees making quick work of them. 'Hey Dimmy!' she beamed, grinning. 'I'm here to save your butt now!' Dimentio's only response was a strangled gasp as he clutched at the hole in his chest. 'Oh crap right that's pretty serious.' She took out several Mushrooms and popped them in his mouth. 'Eat 'em all up!'

Dimentio managed to chew and swallow all of them in one mouthful, and his huge wound began to heal with the help of the Purity Heart to speed up the process. He panted for breath, the gooey innards of the Mushrooms still sliding down his throat. 'Thank you, Mimi...' he coughed. Then his eyes widened. Mimi spun around.

The Chaos Heart had brought back its fist. 'Oh Grambi!' the shapeshifter shouted. She brought her arms in, and a massive, thick wall of Rubees appeared between them and the fist. The colossus' hand smashed right through them, and Dimentio brought up a barrier around himself while Mimi flipped out. The decreased strength plus the shield was enough to not kill him despite the damage done. He flew back, but was otherwise unharmed.

Mimi reappeared behind the Chaos Heart's wrist. 'All right dummyhead!' she shouted, snapping her fingers and making more of the gemstones appear. 'You're going down!' She flew around the arm in a spiral, travelling up it and puncturing it with large Rubees laced with the Purity Heart's energy. She reached the shoulder, then spread her arms wide and stabbed it from every angle with hundreds of Rubees. 'Dimentio!' she called to him. 'Add your own power to this!'

_**'NO,'**_ the Chaos Heart protested. _**'DO NOT.'**_

'Oh, I think I'll listen to the Chaos Heart this time.' The jester sighed dramatically. 'Don't you think he deserves the benefit of the doubt?'

'No!' the girl shouted back.

Dimentio immediately teleported at her side, a condensed block of light in his hand. 'Oh Mimikins, you're so convincing!' He threw the block down at the cracked shoulder.

The Rubees exploded in time with the projectile, and the second shoulder was ripped off of its socket. _**'RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!'**_ the beast screeched at the removal of his second appendage. A howling flurry of spirits flew light blood from its hole. _**'THIS. IS. ENOUGH!'**_

'I think we should go to that worm before this guy kills us,' Mimi suggested.

Dimentio grabbed her hand. 'I concur.' The two of them raced off and away from a furious attack from the Chaos Heart, towards the minion it had unleashed upon them.

Fawful flew by them in an aura of light. 'Ah!' he exclaimed. 'It has goodness that you are being here!'

'How's the fight going?' the girl asked.

A bloodcurdling shriek from the worm cut off the Bean's answer. 'DODGE!' he yelled, and the three of them dispersed as a glob of shadow went right past them. 'It is going as well as it is looking!'

Dozens of smaller worms made their wriggling way out of the larger one's body, spitting acidic darkness at them. 'Why the heck does everything have to summon a bunch of minions?' Mimi asked as she cut down three of them.

'Obviously to make our job just that much more arduous,' Dimentio replied.

Peach and Timpani hit the worm with a wave of light, which it barged right through; its skin steamed and it squealed in pain, and holes burned into its body. 'Our power's not working...' Peach said to her.

'It heals faster than we can hurt it with this,' Timpani agreed. 'Woah!' They both dodged a steam of darkness and disintegrated some worms.

Blumiere smashed the worm with his sceptre and it flailed about, hissing at him. 'This disgusting creature can take a lot of punishment,' he said, then put his sceptre up as sharp spines burst out of its back, attempting to stab him. 'And it has new tricks, it seems.'

Mario and Luigi flew onto the scene. Mario grabbed Luigi by the hand and spun him around. 'Go get it bro!' He threw him at the worm.

The younger brother hit the worm and grabbed onto its back. It thrashed about, writhing and screeching as more and more spines jutted out from it. 'Waah!' Luigi cried. 'This is crazy!' He jumped up and hammered one of the spines right back into its body. It flew right back out and sliced open his arm; the blood leaked out and floated into the open Voidspace.

The worm flailed again and Luigi flew off of its back. The spines on the worm extended and curved, closing in on Luigi like dozens of swords. 'Not on me watch!' O'Chunks shouted, and smashed into Luigi, knocking him out of the way and managing to avoid the spines himself. He clenched his bare fists and flew right at the worm's face. 'I'll punch yeh a new mouth hole!' He brought his fist against its teeth and it recoiled back, growling. 'Hah! 'Ow's that fer a chunkin?'

Then the worm opened its mouth and ate O'Chunks.

A beat passed them all. 'OH GOD!' Luigi finally screamed.

Then the worm jerked suddenly, a pulse of light shining from between its teeth. Slowly, its mouth was forced open. 'Hnnngghh...' grunted the Scotsman in its maw. His armoured feet were pushing against the buttom teeth, and his hands were bringing the top up. 'Yeh think...yeh can jus'...'ave O'Chunks fer dinner?! HAH!'

His body pulsed and the worm flew forwards. 'What...what's he doing?' Timpani asked.

Then the worm and the Scotsman shot off towards the Chaos Heart. 'O'Chunks!' Blumiere and Mimi yelled.

'YAHAHAHAHAHA!' the man laughed. The worm bit down hard on him, but he forced his hands up; the sharp teeth went right through them to the other side. He groaned in pain as blood dripped from the new holes and turned to mist, but he strained his muscles and blocked out the pain to keep the mouth open. They climbed up above the Heart, and the worm's body began glowing. 'YEH BLOOMIN' MONSTER!' he roared, aiming himself straight towards. 'I'VE COOKED YEH UP A LITTLE SOMETHIN' TASTY!'

'Oh no...' Mario said, his eyes wide.

The Chaos Heart opened one of its snakelike mouths and blasted a plume of darkness at him. It hit the giant, glowing projectile and parted around it, burning through the man's armour. 'Heh...heh heh...' he chuckled. 'Bottoms up!'

The man and the worm plunged into the open mouth and down its throat. Dimentio's heart was pounding. 'He...he didn't honestly...!'

A column of light blew out of the serpent head's mouth, nose and eyes, and a powerful searing sound travelled out to meet their ears. The head disappeared, leaving nothing but more souls rushing out of a stump of a neck. The two remaining heads wailed, the beings which made them up crying in misery.

'He...he...!' Mimi stuttered, clenching her fists.

'First Bowser,' Peach whispered. 'Then Nastasia, then O'Chunks...'

'We'll bring them back!' Timpani shouted at them all. 'Just like everyone else who died, we can bring them back! Right?'

Mario nodded. 'Right. Even if we ourselves die, those left can still destroy it.'

_**'YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE PRIVILAGE OF DESTROYING ME, HERO OF THE LIGHT PROGNOSTICUS!'**_ the Chaos Heart screamed at the plumber. _**'YOUR NUMBERS HAVE DROPPED FROM ELEVEN TO EIGHT, AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO ZERO!'**_

'Not as long as we're still here!' Luigi shot back. The Purity Heart energy O'Chunks had possessed flew into their chests as Bowser's and Nastasia's had. 'C'mon guys, let's-a go! Two heads left!'

They blasted off towards the heart as a single group of eight. As the Purity Heart's light streaked from his body, Dimentio was beginning to feel the burning sensation on his body again, and he grimaced. 'C...curses...' he whispered, gritting his teeth.

The magician's former partner flew up to him, his Headgear blazing with golden fire. 'Dimentio, are you having wellness?'

'Ahaha...worried for me, Fawful?'

'Fah!' the Bean snorted. 'It would have badness if our numbers had the dropping to seven!'

Dimentio chuckled. 'I am fine. We have a much larger problem right now.'

The winged enemies were still out in full force, and they converged on the eight of them. Dimentio and Fawful parted, cutting a path through the smaller foes on their flight to the larger one. The Chaos Heart's two heads roared at them, and out of their mouths came two black beams. 'Out of the way!' Mario and Blumiere both yelled, and they dodged, flipped, or teleported away from the blasts. The screeches of minions were cut short as the blasts completely destroyed them.

_At the very least, he is destroying his own army for us,_ Dimentio thought.

All the eyes around the Chaos Heart's massive body suddenly widened, their pupils dilating. 'Uh oh,' Timpani said, verbalizing what they all felt.

Millions of magical waves hummed through the air towards them, and the magician could see the Void ripple as they converged with them. The waves passed over his body and he was hit with a high-frequency whine. He lurched in the air, clutching the sides of his head, and one Chaos Heart monster became two, then three, then six.

The waves were laced with darkness, and he could feel the familiar energy that had always been with him creeping back into his brain. All of his memories, all of his ambitions, came back up to the surface at full force. Suddenly, rage had taken hold of him. _Kill them..._ snarled a voice in the forefront of his mind. _They took everything from you! __**Destroy them all!**_ He could see himself in front of him, one eye shining bright red, face filled with ire. His body was shaking, and the Purity Heart's glow had begun to fade as the darkness kept seeping in.

Then, beams of shadow shot out of the eyes and arced towards them, cutting space as they flew. Dimentio's heart skipped a beat as the curtain came towards the eight fading points of light. _He incapacitated us..._ he realized.

Fighting through the haze, he spread his arms out and put every ounce of energy he possibly could into bending the dimensions. Each beam suddenly stopped, travelling eternally forward through dimensions that continuously expanded in length. 'Ah...hahaha...!' he giggled. All of his muscles were strained in effort. He reached into himself and managed to pull energy from the Purity Heart. He threw his spread arms forward and all of the beams shone white and evaporated.

The clarity and light hit him like a bullet train, and his aura immediately flared back to life as the waves finished passing him. His heart was warm in his chest, and thumping hard. He was panting, and sweat dripped off of him and floated in space. His seven allies had already continued their fight, but he remained behind, his body aching. He took out another Mushroom and ate it, feeling himself grow well again. 'How...how much longer is this possible to take...?' he moaned. 'I have so few left...'

That didn't matter. He had to keep fighting, even if the Purity Heart completely destroyed him in the process. The Chaos Heart would be destroyed. He would undo what he had done. The image of Mimi, screaming at him and throwing down the Rubee containing the rose he had given her, flashed through his mind, followed by the sight of his mother verbally ripping him apart, then shutting the doors and leaving herself to the destruction of his world.

He had been clouded by darkness and pain for so long he had lost sense of everything. He would do so no longer. He summoned up more energy, then shot off toward his fellows.

_**'YOUR TRICKS WILL ONLY SAVE YOU ONCE, DESTROYER OF WORLDS!'**_ the Chaos Heart raged at him. _**'THE VOID IS MY DIMENSION!'**_

'You know, I somewhat resent that title!' Dimentio scoffed.

More tendrils came off of its body at them, greater in number and faster; the Chaos Heart was getting desperate. The magician found it comforting to know that even an unholy monster made up of souls caked in the Void's body could feel fear. He grinned widely, then dodged a tendril, blocked another with a barrier, and waved his arms, reducing ten to vapours of light and darkness. It was getting almost too easy at this point, despite the pain that accompanied every single attack he made.

The eight of them climbed up over the two growling heads. Each of them had two large eyes that swirled like smaller, scarlet Voids. 'Time to die, Chaos Heart!' Blumiere declared, pointing his sceptre at it.

_**'YOUR WORDS ARE HOLLOW, PRINCE OF DARKNESS,'**_ was the response. _**'YOU SHALL BE CHOKED BY MY SHADOW.'**_

One of its heads breathed deeply and let loose an enormous torrent of blackness at them. They drew up barriers and prepared to move, but didn't need to; Peach and Timpani flew forwards and waved their arms, summoning an equally-large flood of light. The two forces met with a crash, merging in on each other. They heaved and churned, and tendrils of light and darkness curled around each other, attempting to overpower the other.

The two women held out their hands, forcing their energy onward. The power heated up the air, and Dimentio felt his hair stand on end. 'How can they be so powerful...?!' he exclaimed.

A strong boom cracked through the Voidspace. 'It is being their hearts!' Fawful answered over the din. 'They are being the purest of pure!'

They pushed themselves forward, forcing the light to force the shadow back. Peach groaned under the intense physical strain. 'We...we can't move it...!'

'Everyone help!' Mario demanded. The six inactive fighters flew to them and pushed against the magic with all their might, while the Chaos Heart maintained the continuous stream of darkness out of its mouth. It was like pushing against the colossus itself; it was a force of unparalleled proportions, and Dimentio could do nothing to move it.

A streak of power mixed with the Purity and Chaos Hearts' energies blasted out of the two opposing forces. Peach and Timpani forced themselves forward with all of their might, and as their bodies moved ahead, their energy overtook the shadow a tiny bit more. 'We...we need to move forward...' Timpani groaned. Then she set her jaw and her face turned determined. Still pushing, she turned her head around. 'Blumiere!' she yelled. 'I need you to blast us at it!'

'What? No!' the man protested. 'If you get too close, you'll be in danger!'

'I don't care!' she shot back. 'We need to keep hurting this thing!' She clenched her eyes shut and gave another hard push. 'Even if it kills me, we have to do something!'

'She's right!' Peach gave her agreement. 'We can get in there and damage it that way!'

'I can't do that,' Mario said, shaking his head. 'I'm not going to let you die.'

Both girls turned their heads around, their eyes shining gold. Timpani looked straight into Blumiere's face. 'Blumiere, if you love me...do it for me. If you win, I'll come back just like the worlds did last time.' Peach looked at Mario, and her eyes said the same thing.

The two men hesitated, then clenched their fists. 'All right,' Blumiere said gravely. 'But you're coming back after.' Timpani nodded and smiled.

'Everyone!' Mario said to them. 'Get them down there!' He opened his palms and light shone from them. Dimentio called energy up as well. He supposed he would have to kill two more heroes before his strife was over.

They sent a wave of force against the two women and they shot forwards, plunging into the mixture of power. The light they wielded surged on through the darkness and, princess and lady in tow, into the throat of the second head.

Blumiere and Mario both averted their eyes as another column of Purity Heart magic erupted out of the Chaos Heart, making the head fade into its intensity. The Heart screamed again, the third head thrashing about in anguish. _**'AAAAAAAUUUGGHH! STOP! CEASE THE PAIN!'**_

Dimentio extended a hand and caught the two collections of energy from Peach and Timpani's sacrifices. He felt heavy. Death was affecting him in a way that it never had before. He snapped his fingers and made his aura of light strengthen, feeling just the power surrounding him hurting his body. His teeth were bared behind his half-mask. 'I swear on the lives lost by my hand...' he whispered furiously. 'I will delete you from existence, Chaos Heart!'

_**'YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!'**_ the monster screamed. For the first time, true terror was evident in its voice. All around its body, the souls were howling along with it, be it in fear, in pain, or in joy. More and more were still rushing out of the four holes in its body, disappearing into the fabric of the Void. _**'I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY ME! I WON'T LET YOU USE ME! I AM THE SOURCE OF CHAOS IN THIS UNIVERSE! I AM THE DEITY THAT INVITES DESTRUCTION!'**_

'Yeah!' Mimi yelled, golden Rubees encircling her. 'Your own destruction!'

The last remaining head roared and souls flew off of its body towards them, screaming like banshees. The mass of spirits overtook them, and passed through Dimentio as if made of frozen air.

Tendrils of shadow shot out of the Chaos Heart's body again, and the magician dodged upwards. Mario and Luigi spun around, flinging the souls out of their way, and Blumiere summoned a cyclone of light that sucked them into its eye. 'We've got to destroy the last head!' Blumiere told them. 'We must do something!'

_**'DIMENTIO!'**_ The Heart's voice was filled with more rage than Dimentio had ever heard. _**'I WILL DESTROY YOU! EVEN IF I AM ERASED HERE, I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!'**_

A splitting pain pounded against his head and his senses blurred and shifted. 'Nnugh...' he groaned, his body growing limp. 'Wh..at...?'

The Chaos Heart opened its mouth and tendrils rolled out of its mouth towards him. 'Dimentio!' Mimi cried. 'Watch out!' She slammed into him and pushed him out of the way. The tendrils wrapped around her and yanked her down into the gullet of the beast.

His heart slammed against his chest. 'MIMI!' he cried; he heard Fawful's voice shout in time with his own. The two of them flew down after her.

'Fawful, Dimentio, don't!' their three remaining allies shouted. It was no use; they were already gone.

The two villains dove past the head's teeth and into the shadowy lake that was its body. Darkness was all around them like a thick liquid, and the murmurs and screams of the Chaos Heart's souls travelled to them, the ravings of all the worlds' madmen.

_**'HELLO DIMENTIO!'**_ the Heart laughed, and for an instant the image of the small, long-limbed Chaos Heart body appeared before him and grabbed his cheeks; he banished it with a blast of magic that was soon swallowed by the sea. _**'AND YOU TOO FAWFUL, MY LITTLE DARK PRODIGY! COME TO RESCUE A DAMSEL?'**_

The two of them struggled to push themselves down into the monsters insides. The jester looked sideways at the Bean, straining himself as equally hard as he was. 'We...must have the saving...of her!' he yelled. His voice was muffled by the water.

Mimi came into view, surrounding in a fading aura of light. Dimentio and Fawful pushed themselves on, but the fluid only got thicker. Their powers were fading, and the jester could see his body burning again. Mimi stretched out her hand, looking straight at him.

They stopped; the water was too thick. They could go no further, no matter how hard they pushed. _**'HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA!'**_ the Chaos Heart laughed, in unison with thousands of other voices. _**'YOU WILL DROWN HERE AND DIE, AND YOUR REMAINING ALLIES WILL MEET THE SAME FATE!'**_

'Di...mentio...!' the shapeshifting girl said, her voice choked. All of her effort was being spent into keeping herself alive in the middle of the Chaos Heart's energy. She pushed forward and reached even further, but the distance between them was too great.

'Mimi!' Fawful yelled, trying to grasp her hand. 'Mimi! Mi...' He looked at the girl, then at Dimentio; the two of them had locked gazes, and were struggling in vain to reach each other. The boy looked back at Mimi for a moment, then sighed. Something had fallen into place. He looked at Dimentio again. 'Have the saving of her!' he demanded, then put his hand back and forced the magician forward with a blast of light. The Bean turned around and shot back up out of the Chaos Heart.

The distance between the two of them was closed and, just barely, the two of them closed their hands around the other's. Dimentio looked deeply into Mimi's red eyes and the anxiety in his chest melted away. They smiled.

_**'WHAT IS HAPPENING?'**_ the Chaos Heart demanded. _**'STOP THIS.'**_

Blazing light shone around them and power flooded their veins. The water around them evaporated and floated up and out of its throat. 'Let's take this thing down,' Mimi said.

Dimentio nodded. 'Yes. Let's.'

The two of them flew up, their light spreading. As they flew, gigantic Rubees appeared around them. 'This'll teach you to eat me!' Mimi shouted, and the gems flew out to the sides. They soared out of the serpentine mouth, and the huge Rubees burst out of the Chaos Heart's throat. As they rose, Mimi looked down at her handiwork. 'That's it,' she said.

The Rubees exploded, tearing apart the Chaos Heart's neck and decapitating it, the head disintegrating into light. A final wave of souls came pouring out of the wound. 'Guys, you're all right!' Luigi beamed.

'Look at that,' Mario said, and pointed down the creature's throat. The liquid had dispersed, and the body was hollow; in its core, beating irregularly, was the Chaos Heart in its original form. 'Time for the final blow!'

_**'NO!'**_ The Chaos Heart was in hysterics. _**'I CANNOT DIE! I CANNOT DIE! MY ETERNAL DESTRUCTION AND CREATION! MY CHAOS! YOU CAN'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!'**_

'It is time to end this conflict once and for all!' Blumiere bellowed. They shot down, six points of light in the blackness. Light shone from their pores, and the energy built up to a maximum as they approached the core.

Dimentio's body was bubbling, but it didn't matter. This was his one true victory. Three thousand years of darkness had pressed in on him, and now it was time to banish it forever. 'Relic of destruction!' he roared, and his energy rippled and sent cracks through the white half-mask. 'Our nightmarish work is at an end! _Take your final bow!_'

They bellowed as one, their voices magnified and pulsing with the power of the Purity Heart. Power pumping through them, the strength of entire dimensions shaking their atoms, they collided with the true Chaos Heart, and all of the energy that they had pent up inside of them shot out of them and into the Heart. It glowed a powerful white, and the entire, huge body trembled. _**'NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'**_ their enemy howled.

A massive flare of light, followed by a deafening boom, ripped the body apart. Every soul that had been trapped in its form flashed white, then flew off into the distance, dispersing into the Void's confines, their voices fading as they disappeared. The Chaos Heart exploded, a sun's worth of light blowing apart the darkness that it was.

Fawful

The blast faded. The six of them floated there in the Void, the Purity Heart bathing them all in its shining light. Fawful looked at all of his allies. Mario was looking up at the light with a small smile on his face and his knuckles against a hip, Luigi stared wide-eyed in wonder at the spectacle, and Blumiere had his sceptre hanging from his hand and was reaching up to the glow.

He looked at Mimi, the girl who had made him melt at the sight of her so long ago in Peach's Castle. . She was smiling brightly, her eyes taking in the light and the disintegrating remnants of the Chaos Heart that floated around them. She looked not at him; her eyes were on Dimentio's, who was breathing heavily and had a look of pure joy on his face. It looked strange to the Bean.

'We did it,' Mimi sighed to the jester, giggling quietly. 'We finally won.'

Dimentio smiled back, his bright yellow eye sparkling in the pure radiance. 'I suppose so. Now the worlds can rest in peace at last.' The spectacle made the Bean's chest hurt, but at the same time he felt happy for them both.

Fawful noticed a movement and started; the Chaos Heart's remnants suddenly flew together into an orb of dark matter below them, and flew up at Dimentio. The globule of darkness slammed into his chest and he and the Chaos Heart's remains shot up, high above the others. 'Dimentio!' the boy shouted, and flew up after him. They hadn't completely destroyed the Chaos Heart...what had they been thinking?!

All six of the heroes, the boy included, flashed. Their light energy came out of their bodies, collecting into the Purity Heart which soared after the Bean, eager to take down its kin.

_'FOOL!'_ Dimentio screamed at him, the Chaos Heart's voice coming out of his mouth. _'YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME WITHOUT DESTROYING HIM!' _Fawful snarled and flew faster.

Then, they came to a stop. Where once they had been a party, it was now just the two of them, former partners, floating alone in the middle of nothingness. The Purity Heart floated above them, warming them from their skin to their bones.

Dark crackles of energy shot around Dimentio, wrapping around his limbs, torso, and head. His face was contorted in suffering, and he was clenching his teeth. A small sound of pain escaped his lips, then transformed into something else. Laughter.

'Aha...ahahahahaha...of c-course...' he gasped, giggling. 'I should have known it would be just...you and me. Aha...'

_'You can't kill me now!'_ the Chaos Heart cackled. _'You will not kill your new friend too!'_

'What...what is—' the Bean started.

'I am so s...saturated with the energy of the Dark Prognosticus that...' The magician grimaced and wretched. '...that the Purity Heart burns me. If you destroy the Chaos Heart...'

'You will have destruction as well...' Sadness suddenly descended upon him, and he swallowed hard, looking away from Dimentio's face, half covered by the white, cracked mask he knew all too well.

The Chaos Heart continued to gloat. _'Haha, now you see! Now you see that you cannot destroy me!' _The Purity Heart gave rhythmic pulses that stretched throughout the Void, and the jester winced at each one.

'I suppose in the end...you are the one to emerge victorious in our battle. Ha ha ha...' The sadness was spreading across the Bean's chest. The steady rumble of his Headgear's thrusters meshed with the ambient rumble of the Void and the single, pure note the Purity Heart gave off.

'I...I am not wanting to do this,' he said. 'I—'

Dimentio grabbed his face and turned it to look at him. A melancholic smile was on his face and tears were flowing down his cheeks. 'I have lived for th...three thousand years,' he said quietly. 'I want to live...but it is my time to die. I will pay for what I have done.'

Fawful stared into the man's yellow eye; it was glistening with tears, and inside was not even a hint of malice. Only sadness, shame, and regret that rooted itself millennia ago. 'But...' he whispered.

Wonder flashed across the jester's face and suddenly he was looking past Fawful. 'Fawful...look...' he said, and pointed behind him. The Bean turned around, and what he saw took his breath away.

On the horizon, shimmering, he could see several points of light. Slowly, more appeared, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands and still appearing. Their light grew in intensity, the rays climbing up. 'They are...' he said, his voice cracking. 'Souls...'

The darkness of the Void was disappearing underneath a veil of light that came off of every single spirit. They kept appearing; their numbers were uncountable, their light overwhelming. The glow rose to the heavens like a sunrise, each soul a single star. In them, Fawful knew, rested the joy and relief of everyone whose lives they had been fighting for. Their hearts and emotions touched the Bean's and he felt his eyes go wet.

The faintest whisper came from behind him, and he turned around. Dimentio's eyes were wide with awe, and his cheeks had grown wetter with tears. 'They're...' he breathed. Before him, in the sunrise of a million souls, every world, every person, every sky he had ever seen was flashing through his mind. The worlds, the very imperfect ones that he had fought so desperately to destroy, sent a warmth through his heart. 'They're all so..._beautiful..._'

Fawful blinked, taking in every detail of the magician. 'I...' he said softly. 'I am thinking so too...' The Purity Heart glowed, its desire powerful. '...goodbye, Dimentio.'

Then, he fell.

The Void's darkness rushed past him, his cape billowed, and he looked up to Dimentio, whose body was disappearing inside the light of the Purity Heart. Memories flashed through his head. Memories of their resurrection, their partnership, their combined efforts. Memories of Dimentio's past, and his betrayal. Memories of Fawful's tireless battles, his losses, his victories. Memories of both of their pain and their suffering, of darkness whispering into their ears and of light setting them free.

The magician's final expression, the breathless and human wonder, the tears of anguish and beauty, stayed fixed in his mind as he fell. Despite the pain that Dimentio had caused, despite all of the suffering, Fawful felt sad that he had to go.

'DIMENTIO!' cried a female voice. Mimi flew past him, soaring upwards towards the shining ball of energy that had engulfed the jester.

'Mimi!' the boy yelled, extending a hand. 'Stop!'

It was no use. The shapeshifting girl climbed higher and higher, calling his name, and her body pierced the light and vanished from his view.

Mimi

Her feet touched solid ground. All around her was a bright haze. She moved her hands in front of her face and moved them; her movements were slow, her mind tired.

She saw him, lying on the ground. With soft footsteps, she walked over to him and sat down. 'Dimentio...' she said, and placed a hand on his chest.

Darkness was peeling off of his skin and disappearing into the haze. The dark blue of his body was disappearing, revealing the white, human skin underneath. The boy looked up at her with his one eye. 'Mimi...' he whispered back. 'Hello.'

She moved her hand softly around his chest, her fingers brushing the fabric of his clothes. Pain and sorrow contorted her face and she started to cry. 'How...how are you?'

'I...' He breathed slowly, as if taking his first real breaths of sweet air. 'I feel...clean...' He was smiling slightly. 'I feel like I have been covered in grime for so many, many years...and now...' A tear rolled down his cheek. 'I am _clean._'

Mimi sobbed and slammed her hand down on his chest. 'You said you would live!' she yelled at him. 'You promised me! You swore on the lives of all who ever existed!'

'I lied,' he laughed. The words hit Mimi like a stone and she smacked him in the face. He didn't flinch. His body was shimmering.

'What's going to happen to you...?' she asked through her tears.

'My being is full of the Dark Prognosticus' energy. The Purity Heart will destroy my body, and the power will rend my spirit apart. All who have died here will return to their rightful places, in life or death, but I...I will cease to be in all respects.'

'Why...?' she whispered, fighting back sobs. She clenched her fingers around his poncho. 'Why does it have to be like this...?'

'Oh Mimi...it is the same reason all of this happened. Because of my horrible folly.'

The man's body was glowing now, and she was having a harder time seeing him in the light. She reached down and took the mask-half off of his face, placing it on the ground beside her. His grey eye stared into hers along with his yellow one. The girl cupped her hands on his cheeks and lowered her face down over his. 'Souls...can't be destroyed,' she said. 'We've seen that.'

Surprise, then contentment, went over his face. 'You are correct. Then perhaps...we will meet again after all.'

She moved a thumb along his cheek, her tears dripping down onto them. 'I...' she whispered so quietly she could barely hear it. 'I love you...'

His eyes half closed, and he looked up, sighing peacefully. 'I love you too. Even as my soul is spread to the furthest reaches of existence...that will always be true.'

She closed her eyes, parting her mouth slightly. Lowering her head, she closed the distance between their lips, her heart crying out for a final goodbye.

They met the open air. Her hands groped at nothing. She opened her eyes to see one last glimpse of Dimentio's fading form, her chest aching for the kiss she couldn't have, before the light that was all around her overtook her vision and made her fade into unconsciousness.

Fawful

Fawful woke up. The strange, tan sky filled with odd shapes told him that he was in Flipside. He sat up and brushed off his clothes, moving his body just in case it wasn't working properly. It was fine.

'The dimensions...they have returned!' he shouted, a wide grin on his face. He jumped up and down, cheering. 'Oh, happies! Hooray!'

'Ugh, wow...' The Bean looked around to see other people with him. Luigi, the one who had spoken, rose too, grabbing his head. 'I feel like I was hit by a truck...'

'Luigi!' he cried, and hugged the man tightly. 'We have victory! Victory I am saying!'

'Woah, haha! Yeah, hey!' He let go and the green man looked around. 'We're in Flipside! We won!'

'Bro!' Mario walked up to them with Peach in tow. 'Look who's back!' He pulled her close, a hand around her waist.

'Hey Princess!' he beamed. 'You were really awesome!'

'Teehee,' she giggled. 'You too, Luigi! A true hero.' Luigi pumped his fist.

A finger tapped Fawful on the shoulder and he turned around to see a green woman in a purple cloak. 'Cackletta!' He hugged her tightly too. 'You are being back!'

'That,' she huffed, 'was insane. Never put me through it again.' Then she grinned. 'I heard what you did from the red loser over there. You've done so much more than I ever could have imagined. Even if it involved siding with the aforementioned loser.' She chuckled, and Fawful laughed too, perhaps harder than he would have had he not just saved the entirety of existence. She put a hand on his head. 'I think you've at least officially outdone me! Eeyah ha ha ha!'

'Hey kid.' They turned to see Kamek and Bowser trudging around. Fawful and Cackletta approached them. The Magikoopa shuffled, rubbing his hand on the tip of his magic wand. 'We came pretty close. I thought for sure it was curtains for us.'

'Nah, we kicked butt!' Bowser bragged. 'Especially me, I was awesome! _Right,_ Fawful?' The Koopa gave him a desperate look.

'You had the defeat in one hit!' the Bean scoffed. Kamek hooted and Bowser grumbled.

'Oh, by the way...' the Bean witch said quietly, tapping his shoulder. 'There's someone you probably want to go see.'

They found Timpani and Count Bleck's former minions gathered around someone else. Fawful walked into the group. 'What is happening?' he whispered.

'The poor lass is blue,' O'Chunks sighed, and gave the Bean a congratulatory pat on the back.

Mimi was sitting on the ground, leaning on Blumiere's shoulder. 'I'm sorry he couldn't have survived, Mimi,' the former count said sadly, brushing her hair with his hand and holding her tightly with the other arm. 'I truly, truly am.'

Mimi shuddered, then swallowed, stifling a whimper. 'It's...it's all right...' Her words were devoid of feeling. 'I just need time, I guess...' She looked up at him, and her face looked as old and tired as the centuries she had lived. 'You know, Count...' she said quietly. 'I used to think you were really good-looking.'

The prince's eyes widened. 'And now?'

The girl blinked, then seemed to realize what she had implied. 'Uh, not to say you aren't good-looking or anything! But...' She sighed. 'Now, I just kind of...don't. Um...' She made confused motions.

'I understand what you mean, Mimi,' Blumiere responded, and gave her a hug. 'I am so sorry.'

'I told you, it's all right,' the girl insisted. 'I just have to wait.'

'Wait for what?' Nastasia asked. 'I thought you said he was...gone.'

Mimi nodded. 'Yeah, but...souls can't be destroyed, remember? Even if it takes forever, he can still come back.'

'Heck, my soul was destroyed,' Cackletta chimed in, 'and look at me now! Young and fit as ever!'

Mimi giggled. Blumiere stood up and pulled her to her feet. She looked around. 'Thanks, guys...I'm glad I have you here.' She smiled.

Mimi caught Fawful's eyes and the Bean started. After a moment's hesitation, he gave his typical, toothy grin and waved at her. She waved back, showing her teeth as well in an exaggerated grin that made them both laugh. For the first time, Fawful couldn't feel the butterflies in his stomach that she had given him for as long as he'd known her. A bittersweet feeling took hold in him when he realized the change his adventure had brought in the end.

'Mimi,' he said. 'I am thanking you for your friendship. I will never have the forgetting of you.'

Mimi ran over to him and gave him a tight hug. 'Thank you too, Fawful,' she said. 'You've been a great friend to me too, despite all the things that happened.' They broke the hug and Mimi looked at him for a moment. Then, she flicked his nose. 'Now be good!'

'Oof! Okayo, hahaha!' he laughed.

He waved goodbye to everyone, and got farewells from them all. Together, he and Cackletta parted from the heroes and took an elevator to the top of Flipside's tower to be alone together. The two of them stood silently, looking out over the small town, and into the tan-coloured sky before them.

'So,' the Bean witch said. 'Any plans, Lord Fawful?'

The boy looked sideways at her, giving a lopsided grin. 'Are you certain that you are wanting to address me by the title of mine, O Mistress Cackletta?'

'Hah! I think my final boss days are over. I'm way too old for that.' She stretched. 'However...perhaps I could be of service?'

'Hmmmmm...' he muttered, feigning consideration. 'Well...I am _supposing_ that there might be room in the lair of Fawful for a toady. But only if they are have obedience and loyalty!'

'Don't push your luck, baldy,' the woman sneered, and smacked him in the back of the head with the back of her hand. They both couldn't help but chortle.

For a moment, they said nothing.

Then, Fawful broke the silence. 'Fah, enough of this quiet!' He spun around, swiping an arm out and making his red cape billow in the wind. 'We are being Fawful and Cackletta! The worlds are being ours to scour!'

'That's what I like to hear!' the witch beamed.

Fawful drew up a two-dimensional box around them both. 'But first, we must be returning home.' Excitement and sentimentality in his heart, he flipped them both out, homeward-bound for the Beanbean Kingdom at last.

Fawful didn't know what he wanted. He didn't know what his future held, what door of the many he would eventually end up opening and stepping through. But he was going home, and he had a loyal toady and his beloved mother by his side.

And that was all he really needed.

Merlon

The room was dark, and shadows obscured the blue walls of the room. His magical potions and tombs scattered throughout his house glowed mysteriously in the shade, and the contents of the vials of liquid bubbled and hissed, adding a mystical ambience to the room.

Merlon of Flipside and Nolrem of Flopside stood before a table lit by candlelight. The small, orange flames flickered and cast a faint glow on the two objects placed before them. Two books, one white, one black, both emitting powerful magic.

'It is time,' Nolrem said gravely. 'Time to truly banish these books' madness from the multiverse.'

'Yes,' Merlon agreed. 'This must never repeat itself.'

The two wizards looked at each other and nodded, the seriousness of the situation transferred between that gesture. Merlon turned to the Light Prognosticus while Nolrem looked at the Dark one. The denizen of the Tribe of Ancients put his hand on the white book's cover, feeling the familiar surface. He had delved into its pages many a time, but no longer.

He forced magic through his fingertips and onto the tomb. A flash of light illuminated the room, and the book burst into flame. Nolrem had given the Dark Prognosticus the same treatment.

They stared into the fires as the books turned to ash under their heat and magical power. Merlon gave a satisfied nod, watching the last remnants of the Tribes' legacy vanish from the face of existence.

At long last, they could rest in peace.

**The End...**

_Next: Epilogue_


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